FG councillor owes €81k to Revenue over properties

The leader of Fine Gael on the country’s largest local authority said he was “working on a repayments process” with Revenue after his business got into difficulties.

Michael Hegarty, a long-serving member of Cork County Council, owes the Revenue’s collector general €81,823.

He made the comment after his details appeared in Stubbs Gazette.

Cllr Hegarty, from Ladysbridge in East Cork, said his property management services company had encountered difficulties.

“I was basically running an auctioneers’ business and I, like many other people, had invested in a few properties,” he said yesterday.

The 51-year-old married father of four said he started the property business six years ago.

“I was late getting into it and the good times had nearly gone by then which is probably why things didn’t work out. I’m not the first person this has happened to and I dare say I won’t be the last. I have to say this isn’t easy.”

The councillor said he received a lot of support from political colleagues after his financial affairs came to light. Cllr Hegarty was appointed party leader on the council five years ago.

Sitting in the Midleton electoral area, he has served on the council for 27 years.

“I am currently working through a repayments process with the Revenue,” he said.

His Fianna Fáil counterpart Cllr Alan Coleman said he hoped Cllr Hegarty “would be able to regularise his situation”.

“A lot of people have been getting into trouble from the fall out created by the recession and part-time politicians are not immune from that either,” he said.

He said Cllr Hegarty was one of the longest serving members of the county council and “was respected by politicians across the political divide”.