Jury's Croke Park Hotel did a roaring lunchtime trade for the duration of An Bord Pleanála's oral hearing on Seán Dunne's massive and controversial scheme for Ballsbridge, with a plethora of lawyers, planning consultants and objectors tucking in there.

But there was no sign of Dunne himself during the lunch breaks. For the "Baron of Ballsbridge" was having his lunch served up in a corporate box on the sixth floor of Croke Park's Cusack Stand, two levels above the conference room where the hearing was held.

Bodyguards stood at the door to make sure no unwelcome guests got in to sample the fare provided by private caterers. Afterwards, Dunne would re-appear at the hearing, flanked by his advisers with two more rows of them to the rear, creating the impression of inviolability.