Millionaire businessman Richard Mulcahy leaves his privileged background behind to go undercover in Limerick, a city battling an image problem. He embeds himself in one of the most disadvantaged parts of the city, Balinacurra Weston, where he meets people striving to improve their lives in the face of constant adversity. Against a backdrop of criminality and boarded-up houses, he discovers that there are good people in these estates who want nothing but to help and who give freely of their time to look after some of their most vulnerable neighbours. He also meets with people who have turned unimaginable tragedy into a lifeline for others and two women who have set up a homeless charity with no money whatsoever. A grandson of General Dick Mulcahy, Richard finds that former Irish army soldiers are as likely to have fallen on hard times as anyone else.
Richard’s experiences in Limerick have a profound effect on him and he is compelled to make lasting and sustainable changes to the lives of the people he meets. By the end of his visit Richard and indeed the audience’s clichéd perception of the city will be challenged forever.
Dublin-born, Gonzaga educated, Richard Mulcahy started out making money as a DJ. His first break in business came from capitalising on the CB radio craze in the early 80s. He went on to develop and sell cosmetics and pharmaceutical businesses over the years and became a millionaire in the process. Currently, co-founder and Exec Chairman of a mobile software start-up SmartBuilder Software Ltd.
He is the grandson of General Richard Mulcahy, Army General, former leader of Fine Gael and Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence. His father, also Richard, was a well-known cardiologist in St Vincent’s hospital. An environmentalist, Richard lives in a renovated cottage on a 168 acre farm in Co. Wicklow. He has planted 120,000 trees there and his land also has private access to five beaches.