They are nothing if not tenacious long-haul merchants; last year, they received planning permission for a total revamp of the Stillorgan shopping centre in Dublin, plans which had been on hold for the previous 10 years.

Richard Barrett (51) and Johnny Ronan (52) became partners after realising they were both bidding for the same development, back in 1989. But their friendship stems right back to their school days at Castleknock College in Dublin.

Barrett qualified as a barrister and economist before developing his interests in property law, finance and taxation. He's a member of the advisory board of Harvard University Graduate School of Design for Urban Development. From Co Mayo, where he started by working in the family-owned agri-business, he's the quieter of the two partners.

John Ronan, the son of a pig farmer from Co Tipperary who subsequently went into property development, is more flamboyant. He's been involved in the Irish property market for more than 30 years, having trained as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He's a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

Ronan's gigantic family home on a rural estate in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, south of Dublin, is adorned with expensive artwork. He owns an amphibious Hummer and is one of only a handful of people in Ireland to possess a e650,000 Maybach car. He is very sociable and loves to party with the likes of Bono from U2. Other celebrity friends include the actor Colin Farrell, whom he advises on his property developments.

As property developers, Barrett and Ronan are seen as tough but fair, commanding national and international respect. Given the extraordinary pace of expansion and development of Treasury Holdings, it's hardly surprising that the company is often involved in controversy, some of it legal, and that it has crossed swords with people and organisations, such as Michael Smith, a barrister and former chairman of An Taisce, Ireland's equivalent of the National Trust.

When the two friends set up Treasury Holdings in 1989, the company was named after Ronan's first property venture, the conversion of the Boland's bakery building, on Grand Canal Street in Dublin, into the Treasury Building. It has since become an amazing force on the Irish and international property development scene, including retail.

Today, Treasury Holdings is one of the largest privately owned developers in Europe, with 60 live development projects in Ireland, the UK, mainland Europe, Russia and China, and a portfolio worth more than e3.7bn. In London, late last year, Treasury Holdings spent £400m buying up Battersea Power Station for redevelopment.

Its biggest single development is in China, where it is committed to a e1.2bn plan, with a Chinese partner, to develop a giant leisure resort on an island in the mouth of the Yangtze River near Shanghai. The overall plan for the wetlands of Dongtan, in the Yangtze estuary, is to create the world's biggest single development, which could change the course of global economic development. This deal has been the biggest international property development deal to date by an Irish company and Treasury Holdings, an early entrant, is likely to get much more involved. One of the plus factors is it's a property developer deeply committed to high environmental standards.

Back in Ireland, Treasury Holdings is behind the Spencer Dock scheme, the largest regeneration project ever carried out in Ireland. It will include more than 275,000 sq m of office space and, appropriately, PwC will be the first tenant to move in, this year. Spencer Dock will also include quality residential and the national conference centre. Treasury Holdings plans to have a range of high quality retail uses there, catering for both the people who are going to live there and for those who will be working there.

Last summer, Treasury Holdings finally won planning permission to redevelop the Stillorgan shopping centre in south Dublin, opened in 1966 and the Republic's oldest such centre. Earlier plans had been rejected on three occasions over the previous 10 years because of residents' objections. Now, the centre is set for a major revision.

Treasury Holdings also owns the Blakes and Leisureplex sites nearby so there is much scope for further development. It has been working closely with the community and a new Local Area Plan has been drafted by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

The company also has longer-term plans for the new town of Ballymun, near the planned Ikea store. Old local authority housing has been demolished and a brand new town is being created. Its ambition is to develop more than 50,000 sq m of retail and leisure space, with a new shopping centre and a further 600 apartments.

Other plans in the Dublin area include Balgaddy at Clondalkin, a proposed new town centre development of more than 110,000 sq m of retail, offices, hotel, leisure and residential. It has been the subject of an intensive community consultation and planning exercise.

Treasury Holding's latest acquisition is a 16ha site in north Co Kildare, close to Leixlip, which it wants to develop as Collinstown Town Centre. It will provide more than 50,000 sq m of retail, office, residential and hotel space as well as new civic amenities for north Kildare. Additionally, it will become a new transport hub.

It has also just acquired a 152ha estate in Roundwood, north Co Wicklow, which it intends developing in a e250m leisure project, complete with luxury hotel and two golf courses. Not far away, on the Powerscourt Estate at Enniskerry, Treasury Holdings' development of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, billed as the most luxurious in Ireland, is due for completion this summer in a e200m scheme.

A couple of projects are in development in Sligo. The Nazareth House retail development will offer about 14,000 sq m of big box retail units, a major anchor store, detached houses, apartments and leisure facilities. A revised planning application for the e80m Sligo Town Centre development is being considered at the moment; parking provision is a major issue.

Treasury Holdings also has property interests on Grafton Street, Ireland's prime shopping destination. Ickendel, jointly owned by Ronan, is continuing the legal battle over the lease of the Bewley's premises on Grafton Street. Bewley's is a landmark and historic coffee shop/restaurant, an icon for the city, held on lease by the Campbell Bewley Group from Ickendel, which is seeking forfeiture of the lease. It's said that what Ronan would like to do with the building is rent it out to the likes of Zara for a king's ransom, so a legal battle royal is in progress.

But as for Treasury Holdings itself, John Bruder, its chief operations officer, speaking in the absence of both Barrett and Ronan, says: "Treasury Retail is our specialist retail division. It is consistently out-performing competitors through expert market analysis and capitalising on consumer trends. We think long term, because a long-term strategy is cost efficient. We know that durable and high quality building materials are important, and using resilient and attractive materials to create the fabric of our buildings is just one of many reasons we are market leaders."

The company is diplomatic about the planning system in Ireland. Bruder says: "The planning system is always a challenge and requires a high level of professionalism and expertise. We've more than 20 years experience and though we have had our share of disappointments, we are generally happy with the quality of the system."

Treasury Holdings is optimistic that the retail sector will continue its strong growth. "Retailing is a dynamic sector in property and requires constant and close management, so that trends and new spending partners and other issues are identified," says Bruder.

He explains that a high level of specification is demanded by investors and developers and this is why they have established a specialist in-house team dedicated to retail. "We don't envisage a problem of over-supply with shopping centres in the foreseeable future, although this is one to watch." Bruder concludes that Irish retail will continue to produce healthy total returns, although less spectacular than in the recent past.

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