Michael Stone

People who know Michael Stone - or Mick, as he is known to those close to him - say he has sounded shell-shocked over Paschal Donohoe's election posters ...

He received no fees for his role on the inner-city programme and has waived his yearly fee of €15,759 from the LDA. “As a member, I have seen first hand his role on the Inner City group and he has done more in recent years for this area than anyone else in the country. The reach of his company brought profile and standing for Stone in the industry. He is very hands on and has put hundreds of hours in to improve the area and the lot of the people living there, without any personal agenda or compensation. He has admitted that if had stayed another couple of years at the ESB, it would have become a job for life. “I am sure it never cost him a thought, throwing up a few posters.” Last year, he paid €4.6 million for a house on Killiney Hill designed by Irish architect Jack O’Hare, an apprentice of the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He owns The Design Group, a mechanical and electrical engineering business he founded in 1992. The proud inner-city Dubliner started working as an apprentice at the ESB while still a teenager. The group pocketed a one-off gain of €15 million during the year, selling the remaining 50 per cent of its facilities management division to Sisk, a joint venture partner since 2019. The success of the group is a long way from Stone’s humble beginnings, growing up on Aughrim Street in Dublin. I think he is finding it pretty difficult.”

Businessman Michael Stone has revealed he paid for Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe's posters to be erected in the 2020 General Election ...

"I can now confirm that in 2020 I paid personally for six people, working in three pairs, to help with postering. For that reason, I have very regretfully decided to step down from both bodies on which I have served pro bono and without fees or expenses for a number of years. "In December 2022, Paschal asked me whether I had provided such help with the 2020 election.

BUSINESSMAN MICHAEL STONE has said that he provided workers and vans to assist Paschal Donohoe during his 2020 General Election campaign.

This was the value of six workers and a company van provided by Stone. He added that Donohoe had contacted him last December to inquire whether or not help was provided in 2020. “You might have 1,000 posters, somebody can offer to put 100 or 150 for you. “In December 2022, Paschal asked me whether I had provided such help with the 2020 election. On Wednesday, 18th January 2023, I again confirmed to him my mistaken recollection,” Stone said. Stone, the head of the Designer Group, said that work was carried out by the six individuals over five days, both before and after polling day, at a cost of €972.