John Byrne (1919 - October 2013) was an Irish property developer and businessperson known for building large offices in central Dublin with his company the Carlisle Trust.
Taoiseach Seán Lemass requested that Byrne return to Ireland to build offices for the growing Irish public sector in the early 1960s.
[3] Along with fellow property developers P. V. Doyle and Matt Gallagher,[4] Byrne employed Desmond Fitzgerald as an architect, Des Traynor as his accountant, and Christopher Gore-Grimes as his solicitor.
In May 1970, Haughey attended a meeting between senior officials of Dublin Corporation and Byrne during which the development of this land was discussed including the racecourse.
[9] The Carlisle Trust owns a number of Irish companies, such as Smithfield Property Development Ltd, Alstead Securities and Dublin City Estates Ltd.[7]