the room.
Inside Sandra O'Brien was lying back on a pile of fluffed-up pillows, her long blonde hair trailed to one side. Even without make-up and subdued by painkillers she still looked beautiful. Harry O'Brien paused at the door and just gazed at her, as if he had just seen her for the first time. A nurse sitting to her side made a quiet shushing noise but beckoned the big man in further. He tiptoed slowly towards his wife and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. Sandra opened her eyes slightly and smiled. They held hands for a short moment but Sandra could sense Harry was itching to get over to his son and she released her grip.
'Don't wake him, I'm warning you,' she whispered, holding onto the thick padded dressings that protected the long operation scar on her stomach. 'We've only just got him back to sleep.'
While Sandra and the nurse watched, Harry O'Brien, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Ireland, melted in front of the sight of his newborn baby lying fast asleep inside the same Moses basket he himself had lain as a baby. He stroked a finger hesitantly across the baby's left cheek, pulling back quickly as the tiny face grimaced, then sneezed. As he stared down, tears welled and he was unable to stop one plopping onto the blue babygrow beneath.
'What weight is he?' he whispered over his shoulder. 'Have they weighed him yet?'
'Seven and a half pounds,' Sandra whispered back.
'Oh, that's a good weight,' muttered Big Harry proudly. 'That's a good weight for an O'Brien.'
Through the partly open door Theo Dempsey watched and waited. And as he watched he couldn't help but think back to the bad days and nights he'd sat with Big Harry when he'd gone off the rails.
Harry O'Brien was chairman and majority shareholder in the O'Brien Corporation, one of Ireland's few multinational companies. Founded in the 1940s by his father, O'Brien's Herbal Cures, as it was known then, was one of the first companies to become involved in the developing pharmaceutical industry. Dan O'Brien, Harry's father, began dabbling in a range of herbal remedies and was soon able to produce them in modest quantities for sale to the public. The steady sales persuaded O'Brien Senior to look closely at the possibility of processing and distributing them on a nationwide basis. Never a man to rest on his laurels, he soon began looking for a partner and entered into negotiations with BPP, British Pharmaceutical Products. Selling a thirty per cent share in his company, O'Brien received close to a quarter of a million pounds, a fortune in 1947. The extra cash, the pharmaceutical research and development, and the distribution network that BPP provided ensured O'Brien's Herbal Cures were sitting on the shelves of almost every chemist shop in Britain and Ireland. Dan O'Brien became one of Ireland's first millionaires in 1953 and the family became national celebrities as O'Brien sought to promote an entrepreneurial spirit among Irish businessmen.
Through it all his only son Harry grew up comfortable and secure, occasionally being caught in the media glare of his father's success. But young Harry realised early on in life that he would have to excel personally to match his father's record. And excel he did. While not academically brilliant, Harry O'Brien was a gifted athlete, representing Ireland in both track and field events and collecting gold medals at many European meetings. His progress through boarding school and on to university at Trinity College Dublin appeared effortless but was marked by hard work and extra tuition. Young Harry soon became Big Harry, as his six-foot-three-inch frame filled out, topped off by a mass of dark curly hair. He had an awkward, almost self-conscious look about him but he had a beguiling smile that won the ladies easily. However Dan O'Brien had young Harry well primed to the wiles of women. 'Some of those hoors are only gold diggers, Harry,' he'd warned repeatedly. So while Big Harry's hormones often
Inside Sandra O'Brien was lying back on a pile of fluffed-up pillows, her long blonde hair trailed to one side. Even without make-up and subdued by painkillers she still looked beautiful. Harry O'Brien paused at the door and just gazed at her, as if he had just seen her for the first time. A nurse sitting to her side made a quiet shushing noise but beckoned the big man in further. He tiptoed slowly towards his wife and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. Sandra opened her eyes slightly and smiled. They held hands for a short moment but Sandra could sense Harry was itching to get over to his son and she released her grip.
'Don't wake him, I'm warning you,' she whispered, holding onto the thick padded dressings that protected the long operation scar on her stomach. 'We've only just got him back to sleep.'
While Sandra and the nurse watched, Harry O'Brien, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Ireland, melted in front of the sight of his newborn baby lying fast asleep inside the same Moses basket he himself had lain as a baby. He stroked a finger hesitantly across the baby's left cheek, pulling back quickly as the tiny face grimaced, then sneezed. As he stared down, tears welled and he was unable to stop one plopping onto the blue babygrow beneath.
'What weight is he?' he whispered over his shoulder. 'Have they weighed him yet?'
'Seven and a half pounds,' Sandra whispered back.
'Oh, that's a good weight,' muttered Big Harry proudly. 'That's a good weight for an O'Brien.'
Through the partly open door Theo Dempsey watched and waited. And as he watched he couldn't help but think back to the bad days and nights he'd sat with Big Harry when he'd gone off the rails.
Harry O'Brien was chairman and majority shareholder in the O'Brien Corporation, one of Ireland's few multinational companies. Founded in the 1940s by his father, O'Brien's Herbal Cures, as it was known then, was one of the first companies to become involved in the developing pharmaceutical industry. Dan O'Brien, Harry's father, began dabbling in a range of herbal remedies and was soon able to produce them in modest quantities for sale to the public. The steady sales persuaded O'Brien Senior to look closely at the possibility of processing and distributing them on a nationwide basis. Never a man to rest on his laurels, he soon began looking for a partner and entered into negotiations with BPP, British Pharmaceutical Products. Selling a thirty per cent share in his company, O'Brien received close to a quarter of a million pounds, a fortune in 1947. The extra cash, the pharmaceutical research and development, and the distribution network that BPP provided ensured O'Brien's Herbal Cures were sitting on the shelves of almost every chemist shop in Britain and Ireland. Dan O'Brien became one of Ireland's first millionaires in 1953 and the family became national celebrities as O'Brien sought to promote an entrepreneurial spirit among Irish businessmen.
Through it all his only son Harry grew up comfortable and secure, occasionally being caught in the media glare of his father's success. But young Harry realised early on in life that he would have to excel personally to match his father's record. And excel he did. While not academically brilliant, Harry O'Brien was a gifted athlete, representing Ireland in both track and field events and collecting gold medals at many European meetings. His progress through boarding school and on to university at Trinity College Dublin appeared effortless but was marked by hard work and extra tuition. Young Harry soon became Big Harry, as his six-foot-three-inch frame filled out, topped off by a mass of dark curly hair. He had an awkward, almost self-conscious look about him but he had a beguiling smile that won the ladies easily. However Dan O'Brien had young Harry well primed to the wiles of women. 'Some of those hoors are only gold diggers, Harry,' he'd warned repeatedly. So while Big Harry's hormones often
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