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[RFC] Padraig O'Neill
[RFC] Padraig O'Neill
#1
Formerly the Second richest man in Ireland (After Seán Quinn), possibly Second richest in Fenspace (After Noah Scott), Second known individual from Ireland to make it to space (After Liam Corcoran), owner of the Second 'Dedicated Private residence' space station in L5 to be constructed (After Kickassia) and owner of the second privately owned Space Shuttle in Fenspace [ref] At least, as he sees it [/ref].

He is a man used to being Second. And he Hates it.

Padraig made his multiple millions during the heady days of the Celtic Tiger in the Republic of Ireland. He was one of the posterchilds of the economic boom with a world-spanning property portfolio managed through his former corporate persona, Eirstar. Padraig rubbed shoulders with the elite of power in the Fianna Fáil tent at the Galway races, being conspicuously involved in the 2007 election campaigns that returned the Ahern government to power.

He made his millions buying farmland cheaply, which would later be rezoned for housing and commerical development.

Padraig understood the potential of handwavium, and as the potential to expand his personal empire to space.

Unfortunately, reality had other ideas.

The crash of 2008 hit him hard, with the value of the majority of his holdings collapsing. Still, ever the opportunist, and with the insider information that made him aware of how bad the impending crash really would be, he saw an out. O'Neill was one of a group of property developers and bankers who advised the government throughout the summer of 2008 that the banking sector was properly capitalised, while simultaneously building up the fund to fund construction of his orbiting home by selling off his stake in numerous banks and development companies, hoping to get out of dodge before the shit finally hit the fan. [ref]Proving this, on the other hand, is almost impossible[/ref].

The majority of his personal wealth went into the construction, fitting out and launch of the eponymous station. Frustratingly for him, he was beaten to orbit by Kickassia by just over a week. At one stage wealthier than Noah Scott, he slipped into second place as construction costs of O'Neill ballooned, then fell further behind as Stellvia Trading began to take off. Padráig made an investment in the struggling startup Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles, eventually increasing his stake to a controlling interest as he brought it to prosperity

He quickly gained a reputation for 'Keeping up with the Joneses', with the CHOAM and the remains of his mundane holdings, including a multi-million Euro a year pension, being able to fund his lavish lifestyle with ease. He is notorious for being conspicuous with his expenditure of wealth and with the appearance of success, a still acts very much like the Celtic Tiger he sees himself as.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Eirstar was declared bankrupt with it's holdings either sold off or folded into NAMA in mid-2010. In a fit of irony, many of the ghost-estates sold off in the great land-sale of 2015 were constructed on land once owned by O'Neill, with some being purchased for less than a tenth of the price he sold them for at the peak of the boom.

in genera; He's a charming, likeable, agreeable fellow when he thinks he can sell you something, or there's money to be made from you.... or is just plain on your side. He's been described by some as an Irish Austin Powers, a description he doesn't exactly shoot down either. His 'Angels' appear to genuinely like him, though how much of that is his persona, how much of it is the lifestyle, and how much of that is his money, is anybody's guess.

On the other hands, he's burned a lot of people to make his money and contributed to the ruin of a national economy, then split when it looked like it was all going to fall down.

He is not popular with Fen of Irish extraction. Not at all.

----- Attributes

Gifted Gabber: A real charmer, and with what appears to be an 'eager to please' salesman's person.

I am the 1%. Filthy stinking rich, and damned proud of it.

Anything you can buy.... : Has an ongoing one-sided' rivalry with Noah Scott. Space Shuttle, Solomon Space Agency, CHOAM... station full of 'Angels.

And I'll pay any price: Willing to spend money excessively to avoid being seen as behind the times, or inferior to anyone else. Likes to appear obviously rich.

It's not personal, it's just business: Not above using 'underhanded' tactics to make money. Nothing illegal as such, but it probably should be.

It's business, not rocket science: Genuinely good at what he does, however. [ref]He did managed to turn the CHOAM into a stable, profitable business, after all[/ref]

This round's on me!: Not above meeting potential business partners in a pub/bar first, 'to get a feel for them'. Is conspicuous about buying drinks. [ref]Including introducing Vulpine Fury to his 'First Pint' while negotiating a deal that eventually fell through[/ref]

-------

Okay. Maybe I am just a little bit bitter.

Although it does offer a nice explanation of why Ford Sierra was able to afford a classic Shelby GT-500 (In need of restoration)....

EDIT: Bloody typos. And filled it out a little.
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#2
Sounds like a man people will love to hate...
Does he have any allies, those with genuine mutual respect?
CHOAM[1] isn't really a popular organisation, and anyone familiar with Herbert's "Dune" would be at least a little suspicious of them.
Does that organisation have its own, separate, Fenspace origins story, which I've not stumbled across yet?
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
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#3
Not really. IIRC, it was just a name that was created to make it clear Fenspace didn't have a monopoly in Stellvia. There're others out there trading and working. It probably began as a small group who thought it'd be funny to name their trading company that (Like Bubblegum Crisis fen creating a Genom, or British Weyland, or the SV Event Horizon, more a slightly hubristic joke than anything), started to struggle in the small early Fenspace and O'Neill rolled on in like a Dragon from the show Dragon's Den and snaffled it up and made a success of it.
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#4
Dartz Wrote:Meanwhile, back on Earth, Eirstar was declared bankrupt with it's holdings either sold off or folded into NAMA in mid-2010. In a fit of irony, many of the ghost-estates sold off in the great land-sale of 2015 were constructed on land once owned by O'Neill, with some being purchased for less than a tenth of the price he sold them for at the peak of the boom.
The sales that gall him the most are the ones made to Stellvia Corporation, who turned around and sold them at cost to the Fenspace Convention for transportation to Mars and Ganymede.


Ace Dreamer Wrote:Sounds like a man people will love to hate...
Does he have any allies, those with genuine mutual respect?
There are likely to be some people on Central Station who say they like him, if only because he's a natural counterweight to Noah Scott's influence in L5... or, at least, he would be if he bothered to take a hand in local politics.

Ace Dreamer Wrote:CHOAM[1] isn't really a popular organisation, and anyone familiar with Herbert's "Dune" would be at least a little suspicious of them.
Does that organisation have its own, separate, Fenspace origins story, which I've not stumbled across yet?
Up until now, they were only a throwaway reference in a faction writeup.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#5
Hm. The thing is, all of his "Angels" honestly like him. He is, after all, an Irish Austin Powers. How much of that is just reaction to his "eager to please" puppydog public persona... I dunno.

He's probably bought Vulpine Fury his first pint at one of the finest pubs in Kandor, trying to set something up that eventually fell through. He laughed uproariously as VF made typical Yankee faces at the proper stout. Though I'm pretty sure VF made a decent verse or two at the drinking songs before he was too plastered to rhyme anything and his wife "Karen" dragged him away.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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#6
.... Okay, what happens if this guy gets into the ship-building industry? Will BAT have to shift into the business equivalent of DEFCON 1? (Contrary to popular belief by the media, DEFCON 5 is the lowest end of the scale.)
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#7
@BA: Time for a lot of crazy cloak&dagger style of doing business. *G*
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#8
I kind of assumed they were some sort of hired staff, rather than living there because they actually liked him.

Well, he has a charming salesman's personality.... He's everybody's friend when he's trying to sell you something, drinks a lot at parties and probably not that bad a guy in person. He;s just a wee bit amoral about how he does business.... Nothing illegal mind, but it;d still appall a Ferengi
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#9
no, you mean apeal. Remember their capsule description: A race based on the conept of "Caveat Emptor" (buyer beware)
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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#10
Dartz Wrote:I kind of assumed they were some sort of hired staff, rather than living there because they actually liked him.
That does not contradict the idea that they like him, especially if he pays well. Wink

Quote:Well, he has a charming salesman's personality.... He's everybody's friend when he's trying to sell you something, drinks a lot at parties and probably not that bad a guy in person. He;s just a wee bit amoral about how he does business.... Nothing illegal mind, but it;d still appall a Ferengi
Will make some deals in Fenspace easier and some deals harder.
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#11
Well yes..... trying to hire his own personal 'waveborg engineer-type didn't go to well at all. But you can't win 'em all.
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#12
Dartz Wrote:I kind of assumed they were some sort of hired staff, rather than living there because they actually liked him.
With over six dozen residents on his station, there's bound to be somebody there who actually likes the man. (Unless he's a complete arse, but that isn't how you wrote him.)

Dartz Wrote:Well yes..... trying to hire his own personal 'waveborg engineer-type didn't go to well at all. But you can't win 'em all.
Of course not. There's only one Sora, and only one Kohran - there's no way a social chameleon like O'Neill would be able to attract anyone like either of them.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#13
robkelk Wrote:
Quote:Well yes..... trying to hire his own personal 'waveborg engineer-type didn't go to well at all. But you can't win 'em all.
Of course not. There's only one Sora, and only one Kohran - there's no way a social chameleon like O'Neill would be able to attract anyone like either of them.
Maybe he wanted to develop them himself or with the already existing 'crew' of his station... which did not worked out that well.
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#14
Of course, if you have the right contacts you could get your own engineer built...

And, try your luck at the roll of the loyalty dice...

So, so, much trouble! [grin]
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
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#15
http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?titl ... _O%27Niell]Padraig is now on the FenWiki...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#16
robkelk Wrote:Padraig is now on the FenWiki...
Maybe it's just me, but I read that and thought "What are his 'Angels'?"
I'd be nice if it was clearer his 'residence' was called "O'Neill", which I deduce it is by re-reading the text.  Later I saw the side-box...
A few ideas of things he might consider investing in, in Fenspace, might be useful to give people ideas about using this as an Open Character.
Quite a fun write-up of a Man People Love to Hate.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
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#17
Bear in mind that I am rather biased against his ilk. Most people don't love to hate him. The average fen would likely have a neutral opinion of him at worst, to finding his rivalry with Noah Scott just a little bit funny. Live and let live comes out in his favour.

He'll invest in anything he thinks he can make money out of, so long as it isn't illegal. Or at least, obviously illegal. He has no qualms about taking other people's life savings, or enrichening himself at their expense. He doesn't hate them, and he didn't 'screw them over' maliciously. The buyer just failed to beware.
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#18
Ace Dreamer Wrote:Maybe it's just me, but I read that and thought "What are his 'Angels'?"
Oops. Everybody, this is why subtle references are a bad thing.

Many, many years ago, when we were discussing what television shows exist in Fenspace, I made a joke about how Noah came down hard on a Hollywood-type who wanted to cast the Stellvia top brass in a "Charlie's Angels in space" style show. Ever since then, Yayoi, Kohran, Sora, and Yomiko have been "Noah's Angels", but only on the Meta level.

Padraig is trying so hard to out-do Noah, so...

Ace Dreamer Wrote:I'd be nice if it was clearer his 'residence' was called "O'Neill", which I deduce it is by re-reading the text.  Later I saw the side-box...
That could be worded better, yes.

Ace Dreamer Wrote:A few ideas of things he might consider investing in, in Fenspace, might be useful to give people ideas about using this as an Open Character.
Again, he wants to best Noah Scott... so look at what Stellvia Corporation has that Padraig doesn't and make something up.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#19
*Reads wiki* What? He bought the SSA!?
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#20
So, does someone get to build his 'Angels', then?

If so, what would be their design spec, sorry, 'job responsibilities'? [grin]

Would they be required to be good Celtic lasses? [grin]

Having a blonde, a brunette and a red head would be relevant?
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
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#21
blackaeronaut Wrote:*Reads wiki* What? He bought the SSA!?
That might be a mis-remembered reference... although I can't imagine to what.

Ace Dreamer Wrote:So, does someone get to build his 'Angels', then?

If so, what would be their design spec, sorry, 'job responsibilities'? [grin]
I was thinking they came into existence in the "usual" way - a man and a woman love each other very much, things happen, they allow nine months for delivery, and so on. But there's no reason why some of them wouldn't be AIs.

As for what they do... there's plenty of things to do on a space station that has four biodomes. Station engineering, farming, traffic control, piloting (there's likely a launch somewhere), cooking, cleaning, secretary to Mr. O'Neill, and so on.

Ace Dreamer Wrote:Would they be required to be good Celtic lasses? [grin]
At least one of them would be , I'd say.

Ace Dreamer Wrote:Having a blonde, a brunette and a red head would be relevant?
Just one of each?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#22
Ace Dreamer Wrote:So, does someone get to build his 'Angels', then?

If so, what would be their design spec, sorry, 'job responsibilities'? [grin]

Would they be required to be good Celtic lasses? [grin]

Having a blonde, a brunette and a red head would be relevant?
Perhaps rather like the bevy of assistants that Jubal Hershaw has in Stranger in a Strange land, minus the stenography bit since I dont see Paddy as a writer?  as I recall they handled just about everything as far as running the house went and had a wide range of 'secondary skills'
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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#23
Reading Ace's stuff reminded me:

Padraig O'Neill is on good terms with Vulpine Fury... at least from his end, because "That daft Yank Puppeteer is the only *appropriate emphatic phrase* in all of Fenspace who consistently spells my name right!"

VF doesn't think ill of him, per se... it's just that VF was a lot more protective of his "intellectual property:" as in, "this machine is mine, you no can has!"

That said, Arthur and VF would probably get along swimmingly... except VF would be cautious because the last person he had the same things in common with was Asmodeus Grey.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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