Here stands a man who, if he deigned to dine with the great and the good, would now be laughing all the way to the bank.

He is of a breed that is celebrated in modern Ireland, both developer and entrepreneur, yet his fate is to be cast out to the margins of the Tiger's jungle. His work ethic compels him to put in savage hours and it is a wonder he has time to eat his dinner at all, at any time of the day. The likes of O'Gara made this country what it is, but now they're trying to stick it to him. The bastards.

Last Monday, An Bord Pleanala ruled that a few acres O'Gara purchased earlier this year is to be compulsorily purchased by Dublin city council. The plot is Dartmouth Square, in the heart of well-heeled Ranelagh. It served as a public park for the last 18 years and was leased to nuns before that. O'Gara bought the land from a British gent who tried for years to sell it to the council for a nominal sum, but with no success. In the spirit of the Irish entrepreneurial age, the bould Noel spotted an opportunity, shook on it with the Brit, and took possession of his land. It cost him less than 10,000 and he says it's worth 175m.

Not a penny more, not a penny less.

He says he wants to develop the square as a car park and creche, to facilitate hardpressed commuters. This is a noble gesture, focused on the welfare of his fellow man and woman rather than the pursuit of profit. However, cynical observers suspect he is merely talking up the potential of the square so the council will have to fork out big bucks to buy it back for the local denizens who like to take the afternoon air therein.

This is fast-buck merchant territory, well-traversed ground for your average Celtic cub. Wherever you turn in the country these days somebody is making a packet through minimum effort, a keen eye and, more often than not, playing fast and loose. Most of this activity involves dealing in property and attracts plaudits from on high regarding the alleged national entrepreneurial spirit.

So what's wrong with Noelly getting in on the act? Why is he being cast as a chancer who has crashed the party? After Monday's ruling, O'Gara said that his land was being confiscated, evoking images of Cromwell disenfranchising the Sean Bhean Bhocht's wailing children. I'm with him on that. CPO is designed to facilitate the purchase of property for infrastructure vital to the functioning of the state and its economy. It was never meant to be used to take a man's land for the idle pleasures of, as Noel calls them, "50 or 60 well-heeled residents." It's a goddamn outrage.

Admittedly, as a developer he has refused to do what is expected of him. He does not frequent the Galway Races to pay homage to Fianna Fail in the emporium reserved for fat developers and their fatter cheques.

Our man remains outside the tent peering in, rather than inside processing Moet & Chandon.

And make no mistake about it, nobody, absolutely nobody within the confines of that fabled tent ever ate their dinner at the civilised appointed hour.

But all is not yet lost. They still have to cough up some loot before confiscating the field and handing it back to the public as represented by that cricket playing, strawberry sucking new ascendancy who frequent the square. Who would begrudge this martyr a few mangy bob for his bit of land?

In the meantime, O'Gara intends to mount a court challenge against the Planning Act, which he believes is contrary to the rights established by Michael Davitt. So lay down your knife and fork and take up the cudgel. Rally to the cause. Don't leave it to others. There is no such thing as a free lunch.