Councillor denies conflict of interest in eviction case

A DUBLIN City Councillor has denied a conflict of interest where he is acting as solicitor in a case where a local community association is seeking to evict a drug treatment programme from a building.

Cllr Tom Brabazon has acted as solicitor for the Kilbarrack and District Community Association (KADCA) in its attempt to evict the Kilbarrack Coast Community Programme (KCCP) from a building on Greendale Road in Kilbarrack.

The matter is now due to be heard in the circuit court, and Dublin City Council is to write to the HSE and the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs to ask them to try and resolve the row.

KADCA claims it is owed rent arrears of €12,000. It also claimed that other conditions have not been kept as part of its agreement with KCCP, and that it has made a number of complaints to gardaí about drugs being sold around the centre.

KCCP refuted that allegation and has also claimed that it paid rent annually, only for it to be returned to them by KADCA. KCCP said 41 jobs are at risk if they are evicted, as well as the health of those clients using the service’s alcohol and drugs-treatment programmes and the 140 children who use the centre.

The civil bill for non-payment of rent was sent to KCCP by Mr Brabazon, and contains a claim that KCCP defaulted on its rent and that repairs to the premises, requested by Dublin City Council, have not been carried out.

It also claims: “It has come to the attention of the plaintiff that controlled drugs are being sold by non-parties on the said premises and the plaintiff has brought several of these instances to the attention of An Garda Síochána.”

Mr Brabazon denied there was a conflict on interest, and said he had checked with the ethics registrar in the council and had abstained from any council votes on the issue.

Marian Clarke, coordinator of KCCP, said they had always paid rent in advance, but claimed on at least two occasions, it was returned to them by KADCA.

She said that after this happened, KADCA then asked for the rent for three years to be paid all at once but said it would not be accepted as rent, but rather as rates in return for alleged damage to the property.

She also said that KCCP had paid the 2009 rent following legal advice, and also the 2010 rent, but these payments had been refused and that no invoices or receipts had ever been received by KCCP.

Dublin City Council confirmed that the land on which the centre was built was leased to KADCA on a 99-year lease, conditional on the lands being used as a community centre.

“Dublin City Council’s North Central Area Committee undertook at its February meeting to call on the HSE and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to work to resolve this issue,” a council spokesman said.

The director’s report and financial statements for the year ended 2009 for the Kilbarrack and District Community Association shows that it had a cash surplus of €13,367, and cash reserves of almost €80,000.