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E
NVIRONMENT minister, Alan Kelly, has
told the Dáil that he is still grappling with
the series of controversies that have beset
Wicklow County Council in recent years which
threaten to expose deeply questionable rela-
tions between elected officials and councillors
and one-time masters of the universe, Sean
Mulryan and Sean Dunne.
Village understands that there have been
ructions in the Department over recent weeks
since a number of Sinn Féin deputies, including
Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald, spoke
on a parliamentary motion calling for the
establishment of an Independent Planning Reg-
ulator, as recommended in the
long-since-shelved Mahon tribunal report.
Brian Stanley TD for Laois Offaly appears to
have caused the greatest upset for senior
department and council officials with his com-
ments about the extraordinary transfer of
lands by the council to the two developers in
and as reported extensively in Vil-
lage over recent months.
Village has reported that the lands worth
some €m were given in what was termed an
“exchange of easements” by the council and
allowed the developers lucrative road access to
the , home residential complex they were
building at Charlesland near Greystones. It is
unclear what the council received in this
exchange but the valuable lands were disposed
of without any vote by elected councillors as is
the normal, legal requirement.
Stanley said: “A large section of that land, six
acres, was handed over to the developer for
€ and it is claimed that it was a deed of grant
of easement, a most unusual legal instrument,
to be used in the transfer of land from a local
authority. I have a copy of the deed of grant of
easement, which makes interesting reading.
Even though it was never brought before the
members of the local authority in the chamber,
it has a separate folio. It is sold as a fee simple
– freehold”.
He went on to describe how a series of allega-
tions by Wicklow auctioneer, Gabriel Dooley,
and local councillors had been sent to the min-
ister, including in one file which mysteriously
disappeared from his desk in the Custom House
last September, but to date there had been no
proper investigation by his department.
“These centre on the acquisition of lands,
re-zonings and road access for none other than
Mr Sean Dunne and Mr Sean Mulryan, around
the proposed development at Charlesland near
Greystones”, Stanley said.
“There are also claims of improper contact
between developers and key members of plan-
ning committees and local authority officials.
The subsequent re-zoning of lands in question
brought huge dividends for the Ballymore
property group which…had distressed loans of
€.bn from AIB, Anglo Irish Bank and other
financial institutions”.
Stanley referred to other bizarre events sur-
rounding former county manager, Eddie
Sheehy, in his dealings with councillors critical
of his actions over the years as “akin to what
took place in Mississipi under Governor Huey
Long ”.
But it is his reference to Mulryan and Dunne
in particular that has caused such sensitivity
given the former’s attempts to get out of the
clutches of NAMA, with its assistance, and the
latter’s on-going difficulties in trying to keep
his assets out of reach of various agencies and
creditors, from his US refuge.
In his response to the Sinn Féin contribu-
tions during the two-day debate, Kelly said:
“Some deputies referred to issues concerning
Wicklow County Council. As I am considering
these issues, it would be inappropriate for me
to make any further comment until such time
as every issue has been considered”.
Meanwhile, the final report by MacCabe
Durney Barnes Consultants as part of the
independent review of planning in Carlow,
Cork, Galway and Meath county councils and
Cork and Dublin city councils is, according to
the department, “still awaited and Minister
Kelly subsequently intends to publish it having
considered its contents”. •
June 2015 9
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Anti-austerity groups 14
Denis O’Brien 18
62% in referendum 21
Greywash: CRH 22
Wick-
lowdown
Department of the
Environment considers
adding Wicklow to the other
six counties under review.
By Frank Connolly
Gabriel Dooley has made
a complaint to the Ethics
Registrar of Wicklow
County Council
concerning the apparent
failure of Wicklow Fianna
Fáil councillor, Pat Vance,
to declare his interest in
a property in Bray.
According to
documents submitted to
the Registry of Deeds on
August 26th 2004 Vance with his wife,
Mary, and son, Peter, raised a mortgage on
the property at 15 Saran Wood, Killarney
Road, Bray. A year to the day previously, in
August 2003, the property was registered
in the name of Peter Vance.
The house was built by McInerney’s on a
site under Bray Head in the early 2000s.
Pat Vance and his wife own another
investment property built by McInerney’s
at Briar Wood, Bray.
The Council confirmed that Dooley’s
complaint had been received and will be
investigated.
“Wicklow County Council confirms that
the Ethics Registrar received a complaint
in relation to Cllr Pat Vance on the 28th
May 2015. This complaint will be
investigated in accordance with the
process outlined in Part 15 of the Local
Government Act 2001, as amended”, a
spokesperson told
Village
.
Councillor Vance told
Village
that the
house belongs to his son and he had no
reason to include it in his Declaration of
Interests for Wicklow County Council at
any time between 2004 and 2014. •
Pat Vance
Councillor Pat Vance
