
10 July-August 2023 July-August 2023 11
or business conflicts of interests but there are
no provisions preventing anyone putting a
word in for a friend. The current Ethics
Legislation only curbs such interventions by
requiring publication of the details of any
lobbying. The intention is that conducting
business in the full light of public scrutiny will
deter malpractice. The political relationship
between Farrelly and McEntee is so close that,
in this matter relating to her own constituency
she should have been required by the law to
recuse herself from the decision-making
process; but there is no such law.
Farrelly has been registered as a lobbyist
with the Department of Justice since 2016 on
behalf of a company which has promoted the
IIP scheme for potential investors. His
application stated that he was “looking for
approval of the investment opportunity for the
Chinese applicants which would result in them
being approved for a 5 year visa”.
In any event, even if knowledge of the
previous lobbying is imputed to the
Department it is not clear if that lobbying was
relevant to this application.
In 2022, the funding from Chinese investors
financed the purchase by KADA, a registered
charity, of the nearby Mowlam Nursing Home,
in Kilmainham Wood, County Meath. Farrelly
is a founder of KADA and was also an investor,
with nine others, in the nursing home from its
establishment in 2000 and before its recent
acquisition by the charity. According to one
director of KADA, the investment by the
Chinese donors amounted to some €1.6
million. Peadar Fitzgerald, a consultant on
social housing, who recently joined the board,
also insisted that the KADA directors were
aware of Mr Farrelly’s part ownership of the
nursing home before its acquisition by the
charity. He said the charity intended to
reburbish and extend the 36-bed nursing
home and that it had applied to build 10 social
housing units on the site of the retirement
village run by KADA.
“I believe the investment was something in
the region of €1.6 million. It was used to
purchase the nursing home. The directors of
KADA were aware that Mr Farrelly was the
owner of the nursing home along with a
number of other shareholders in a tax
scheme“, said Fitzgerald, who said he
provides consultancy to KADA on a voluntary
basis. He said it was his understanding that
there was a charge against Farrelly as a result
of his bank debts which he may have cleared
when the nursing home was sold to KADA.
Farrelly has also confirmed that there was a
charge against his shareholding in the nursing
home. The nursing home is managed by
Mowlam Healthcare, which was purchased by
investment fund, Cardinal Capital, in 2020.
KADA operates a retirement village with
over 30 residents, many of whom own their
homes, and a day-care centre for residents
and others from the locality, which is located
close to the nursing home. KADA received a
capital grant of over €1.9 million from Meath
County Council in 2020 and also obtains
annual funding from the HSE.
Farrelly is a former Fine Gael TD for Meath
East and was recently appointed chairperson
of the Strategy Committee for the party’s
constituency organisation. He is a close
political advisor to Helen McEntee who was
appointed justice minister in 2020 and has
responsibility for endorsing applications to
the IIP scheme. It attracted over €1.25 billion
since 2012 before it was suddenly closed in
February 2023. An audit of the controversial
programme has suggested that there were
concerns within the Department about the
lack of security vetting of Chinese donors but
there are also questions to be asked about
many in business and charitable enterprises
in Ireland that have been rewarded financially
by its operation. At the time of the award to
Farrelly’s charity, the scheme was under
intense scrutiny and the subject of an, as yet,
unpublished review which eventually led to its
closure. It would be surprising if McEntee and
her ocials were not aware of the sensitivity
of this particular application.
The programme granted residency rights to
non-EU citizens, their spouse and children
under 18 if they invested a minimum €1
million in a business in Ireland or provided an
endowment of up to €500,000 to a social
cause or charity. Nursing homes, hotels,
social housing, universities, and even a rugby
club across Ireland have benefited from the
scheme. The investors must prove they have
a net worth of €2 million in order to avail of the
scheme but fears have been raised that some
applicants, who must reside in Ireland for at
least one day a year, may not have been
adequately vetted before obtaining residency.
In 2016, Farrelly registered as a lobbyist for
IIP investment from China on behalf of Vesada
Private Ltd with an address at Fitzwilliam Hall,
Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin. The directors of
Vesada were listed by the Company
Registration Oce in 2021 as Frank Clinton of
Mullingar, County Westmeath and Desmond
Connolly of Clondalkin in Dublin. The company
has developed social housing projects in
Dublin, Westmeath and County Mayo as well
as hotels, student apartments and holiday
homes. Mr Clinton informed Village that he
had not been in contact with Farrelly since
former director, Richard Heaney of Castletown,
Navan, left the company several years ago. He
said he originally was introduced to Farrelly
by Mr Heaney at Fine Gael functions in County
Meath. However, Farrelly still appears as an
advisor to Vesada on its website. Although he
has denied being involved in the lobbying for
the IIP funds that went to KADA, it is clear
Farrelly was all over the transactions
surrounding the Chinese donation. After
losing his council seat in 2014, Farrelly
became president of business group, Meath
Chamber. In 2016, he travelled to China to
open an oce of Meath Chamber in Ningbo
and has since visited the country other
occasions.
In November 2022, KADA successfully
applied to Meath County Council for planning
permission to construct 10 dwellings at the
retirement village. This followed the refusal of
An Bord Pleanála of an earlier application to
build 33 detached modular houses on the land
at Boynagh, Kilmainhamwood in Kells, County
Meath. The refusal followed objections to the
proposals by two long-time residents of the
retirement village.
Nursing home and day-care centre, Kilmainham Wood Retirement Village, Kells, county Meath