Travel costs exposé adds to Callely’s list of woes

SENATOR Ivor Callely has been tripped up over a number of controversial misunderstandings since he entered politics.

The latest revelation that the Dublin North senator claimed €81,015 in travel costs from his West Cork home has only added to his woes. Last July gardaí questioned Mr Callely after his yacht was involved in a hit and run with other boats at Baltimore.

His boat Serendipity II reportedly collided with two vessels and caused €40,000 worth of damage. When he was tracked down, he helped with inquiries and passed on his insurance details.

Senator Callely was caught in a long-running saga with the Standards in Public Office Commission when Gannon City Recovery and Recycling Services Ltd, declared it donated €2,500 to him in 2005.

He had declared €1,500 and said the rest was for the party headquarters.

In protracted correspondence Mr Callely was adamant the money was passed on to Fianna Fáil and not his responsibility to report.

When Fianna Fáil shot him down he searched for the cheque again, found it and passed on the €1,000 donation to the party.

Before the spate of resignations in the past 12-months Mr Callely’s removal as junior transport minister was the most high profile for years.

It happened in 2005 when it emerged John Paul Construction had paid for the painting of Mr Callely’s house in Clontarf in the early 1990s. The construction company paid sub-contractor Philip Lambert directly and the connections brought an end to Mr Callely’s junior ministerial career.

In 2005 Mr Callely was forced to back down in a battle with Cork County Council over planning permission at his holiday home in Kilcrohane on the Sheep’s Head peninsula.

After getting permission for a garage in 1997, the portion of the property was converted to house two bedrooms and an upstairs store.

Before his resignation in 2005 his private secretary Una McDermot resigned after she refused to attend what she believed was a party political event.

Around the same time his adviser Niall Phelan resigned and wrote to Mr Callely to complain at his conduct.