Docklands development authority chief Moloney steps down

BELEAGUERED regeneration vehicle the Dublin Docklands Development Authority has announced its chief executive Paul Moloney has stepped down.

The DDDA, which has a unique responsibility to plan and develop the Dublin’s docklands, said it faced significant challenges and, given their scale, Mr Moloney retired a year early.

The newly-appointed chairman of the DDDA, Professor Niamh Brennan, said it was considered the best option for the 520-acre development project, which now boasts some of the country’s most overpriced development land.

“Given these challenges and the fact that Mr Maloney’s contract was due to expire in June 2010, the board will, in due course, appoint a new CEO to ensure the Docklands Authority fulfils its important mandate in partnership with its key stakeholders,” she said.

Until a replacement is hired, Gerald Kelly, its director of social regeneration, will act as chief executive.

The DDDA has suffered greatly because of inextricable links to Anglo Irish Bank.

Last June, its chairman Lar Bradshaw resigned. In December, it emerged as a non-executive director at Anglo he was party to millions of euro in directors’ loans.

Anglo’s chairman Sean FitzPatrick resigned his seat on the board of DDDA for the same reason.

Mr Bradshaw’s initial successor as chairman, Donal O’Connor, resigned when he became Mr FitzPatrick’s replacement at Anglo.

The DDDA has been involved in a number of controversial decisions.

It joined the Becbay consortium with developers Bernard McNamara and Derek Quinlan to pay €412m for the old Irish Glass Bottle site in Poolbeg.

The money was borrowed from Anglo. This has lost 75% of its value and an Oireachtas Committee heard the consortium was not meeting its full loan repayment obligations.

The DDDA granted permission for Liam Carroll to build the new offices for Anglo, only for the High Court to find it did so improperly and the building should be razed.

Earlier this year Environment Minister John Gormley appointed Century homes’ founder Gerry McCaughey as the authority’s new chairman.

He stepped down three weeks later after o disquiet about his use of a tax loop-hole which allowed him pass assets off to his wife. Previous chairmen have included Joe Burke, a long-time associate of Bertie Ahern.