Councillors face ethics probe over rezoning
In a worst case scenario, the matter concerning top hotelier and Fáilte Ireland director Patrick O’Donoghue, and Killarney mayor Sheila Casey could be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The inquiry, which is the first of its kind into local authority members, is due to held in Dublin today.
Elected representatives found guilty of ethics breaches can be fined several thousand euro, or suspended/removed from their positions on councils and other public bodies. In extreme cases, they could be given jail sentences.
Mr O’Donoghue, who is managing director of the Gleneagle Hotel Group and a Fianna Fáil councillor, and Ms Casey, Fine Gael, have been in the spotlight since a rezoning decision by Killarney Town Council last March.
Ignoring the advice of its senior management, the council voted to rezone the 20-acre Gleneagle Hotel complex in Killarney to ‘town centre’ status, which would opened the site up to large-scale commercial and retail development.
According to property sources, the rezoning would have increased the value of the land by millions of euro.
Mr O’Donoghue did not vote on a proposal to rezone the Gleneagle property, saying he wanted to avoid a possible conflict of interest, but lobbied other councillors on the issue. Ms Casey, who is an employee of the Gleneagle group, voted for the rezoning.
Both will today come before the state public ethics watchdog which is to probe whether the councillors had a conflict of interest or breached ethics regulations.
When the issue first arose a year ago, council manager Tom Curran and other senior officials in Killarney strongly urged that the zoning of the Gleneagle complex not be changed to town centre status.
They pointed out that the Gleneagle was more than a mile from the centre of Killarney, and warned that town centre zoning could set an unwelcome precedent that might tear the commercial heart out of the town and take from the current town centre’s vitality and viability.
For almost 50 years, the Gleneagle Hotel has been focussed on entertainment, catering and tourism, greatly expanding in recent years.
As well as the Gleneagle Hotel, the complex also includes the Brehon Hotel, the 2,000-seat National Events Centre, a pitch and putt course on the banks of the river Flesk and several apartment blocks.
When the controversy started a year ago, Mr O’Donoghue said there were no immediate plans to develop the 20-acre site.
“We have no particular plans for the land, at present, but we want to reach clarity on the matter. There may be some development in the future, but we have no plans at the moment,” he said.
Last month, the council made another decision on the Gleneagle rezoning, agreeing to a “tourism and associated facilities” designation.
This rezoning is not substantially different to town centre zoning, but is seen as a compromise in a difficult situation. It allows for hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, conference facilities, holiday homes and apartments, theatres, indoor and outdoor leisure facilities and a neighbourhood retail centre.
Open for consideration are tourism-related retail proposals, which would not detract from the commercial vitality of the town centre.
Ruled out are large scale retail developments, fast food/takeaway outlets, financial institutions and office headquarters.
The Standards in Public Office Commission is chaired by Mr Justice Matthew Smith and members include Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell and the clerks of the Dáil and Senate.
The commission will report to Kerry County Council and Environment Minister Dick Roche when the formal investigation is completed.
