Ann Dunne, daughter of Dunnes Stores founder Bernard Dunne, has died.
According to a notice on the RIP.ie website, she died on October 17th peacefully “surrounded by her loving family and friends”, including sister Margaret Heffernan, 84, the current chief executive of Dunnes Stores.
In an accompanying statement, her family said they would like to thank “everyone who has taken care of Ann in her latter years”.
It added that a family funeral has already taken place.
RM Block
The death of Ann Dunne means Heffernan is now the last remaining child of the late Nora and Bernard Dunne.
Her death has come less than a year after the death of Heffernan’s husband Andrew, who previously worked as a consultant endocrinologist at the Blackrock Clinic.
Ann Dunne is predeceased by her siblings Frank, Elizabeth, Therese and Ben, the latter of whom died in November 2019.
Ben Dunne, who died at the age of 74, played a pivotal role in the expansion of Dunnes Stores, which was set up by his father and grew into the largest retail chain in the country with about 100 stores and a turnover of close to £1 billion at the time of his departure.
He was ousted from the company, which led to his sister Margaret Heffernan taking over, and later built up a chain of well-known gyms.
Heffernan, who has led the supermarket and department store chain since the early 1990s, has been credited with transforming the business into an upmarket retailer during her time in charge.
Following a group restructuring in 2018, the Dunnes Stores group has been controlled through an entity called Better Value Unlimited Company. Due to its unlimited status, the firm is not required to publish financial figures such as turnover and profits.
Better Value Unlimited Company is led by Heffernan and two other directors, her daughter Anne Heffernan and niece Sharon McMahon.
