Bill Cullen
Early life[edit]
Born into poverty in the Summerhill area of Dublin in the 1940s, Bill Cullen was the fifth of fourteen children, seven boys and seven girls. Cullen was born in a caul (the membrane surrounding the amniotic fluid) which is considered a good luck omen within Irish folklore. His mother, Mary Darcy Cullen was a fruit seller and Cullen started trading at market stalls from a very young age.[1][2] His father Billy was in the Irish Army Reserve and was for the most part unemployed, or working on the dock and getting labour that was not much for the Cullen family.[3]
Politics[edit]
Cullen has donated to Fianna Fáil, an Irish political party, on a number of occasions. Glencullen Holdings made political donations during 2002 of €13,459.[29] In 2005, he donated €9,330 to the party, which they controversially did not declare to the Standards in Public Office Commission.[30] In 2006, his company donated €14,873 to the party. His company made further donations of €2,500 to Fianna Fáil minister Mary Hanafin in 2007.[31]
Cullen was critical of the Green Party in government, particularly the effect the change in vehicle registration tax and motor taxation policy in July 2008 had on the Irish motor industry. He blamed the party for the collapse in new vehicle sales in 2009, saying that these changes were unnecessary.[32] In response, the party's finance spokesperson, Dan Boyle, called the claims "hysterical and widely inaccurate".[33]
He was also one of a number of high-profile members along with Packie Bonner and Mick Galwey of the group 'We Belong' who campaigned for a yes vote in the second Irish constitutional referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.[34]
Philanthropy[edit]
Cullen is involved in a voluntary capacity with the charity "The Irish Youth Foundation" a number of years after it had been established, and is now president of the foundation.[35] The Irish Youth Foundation helps raise €1.5 million a year for youth projects in Ireland. All royalties from Cullen's 2002 autobiography, It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, were donated to this charity.[36]
Cullen set up the Bill Cullen Sunshine Scholarships Fund in 2001 to assist young athletes make the transition to senior athletics while continuing their third level education in Ireland.[37]
Awards and honours[edit]
In 1998, he was a recipient of the Lord Mayor's Award for his work with the disadvantaged young people of Dublin.
In September 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Princess Grace Humanitarian Award.
He was named Maxol Irish Motor Industry Person of the Year 2000.[38]
He was conferred with an honorary Doctorate of Law of Maynooth University in May 2005.[39]