Council firms up regulations after ethics probe

KERRY County Council has confirmed it is now complying with a key recommendation by the Standards in Public Office Commission, following a recent investigation by the Commission into two Killarney councillors.

A council spokesman said officials would be reminding elected members of the ethics regulations at the beginning of each council meeting, including town councils in Kerry, when planning matters are on the agenda.

This was recommended in the commission’s report on a probe into Killarney town councilors, Fianna Fáil’s Patrick O’Donoghue and Fine Gael’s Sheila Casey in relation to a zoning controversy.

However, the commission also pointed out that the onus to comply with the ethical framework remained on councillors themselves. The commission found that Mr O’Donoghue may have breached two sections of the Local Government Act in his actions regarding a motion to rezone land at the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney, which was debated and voted on at a Killarney Town Council meeting, on March 6, 2006.

It was claimed Mr O’Donoghue, who is managing director of theGleneagle group, intentionally tried to influence a council decision in relation to the rezoning lands in the Gleneagle complex, which measures 20 acres andincludes the Gleneagle and Brehon Hotels and theNational Events Centre.

The claim has been strongly denied by Mr O’Donoghue, who is a member of Killarney Town Council. He is also a director of Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland.

The Standards Commission found that offences under the Local Government Act may have been committed and sent its report to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).