The Impossible Dream: The spectacular rise and fall of Steorn, the Celtic Tiger''s most audacious start-up

In 2006, a previously unknown Irish technology company by the name of Steorn created headlines globally when it took out a full-page ad in The Economist, in which it claimed to have made the scientific breakthrough of this - or any other - century: perpetual motion, nothing less than a complete and immediate solution to the global energy crisis.

The investment money poured in, with some of Ireland''s most respected entrepreneurs and institutions getting on board, but the demonstration was a spectacular failure. So how did so many well-meaning and otherwise sensible people get things so desperately, absurdly wrong? The story begins with a malfunctioning CCTV system and ends with an exploding battery, and it drives home Ireland''s frenzied state of mind during the Celtic Tiger years.

''A compelling and frequently bizarre read'' - The Sunday Times (Ireland Edition)

''The Impossible Dream, Barry J Whyte''s new book about the rise and fall of what he describes as the Celtic Tiger''s most audacious start-up , proves once again that not all publicity is good publicity. It also shows that smart people can be as likely as fools to be easily parted with their money.'' - Irish Times

Whyte brilliantly sets the context in which Steorn was first active, a time when it suddenly didn''t seem strange to hear of taxi drivers buying apartments in Bulgaria. - Irish Times

While there is some technical jargon and deep dives of company documents to wade through, The Impossible Dream is for the most part an easy-to-read yarn that firmly places the ascent and crash of Steorn within the context of the Celtic Tiger era. - Irish Times

It''s hard to explain to anybody who wasn''t here just how cash-drunk most of Ireland became during the heady, reckless days when the Celtic Tiger''s roar was full-throated and it seemed the good times would never end. Barry J Whyte manages to capture the mood of the times, as he provides background on the country''s most audacious startup from those gluttonous days. - The Business Post

The Steorn story is fascinating, although it sometimes feels like the equivalent of rubber-necking at a car accident as you drive slowly by; it''s excruciating, but you can''t turn away from what is essentially a parable for our times. - The Business Post

''An extraordinary story and a fascinating book'' - Pat Kenny