€50m super-prison land grows veg

Department of Justice officials are set to be hauled before the Dáil’s spending watchdog after it emerged there was never any reason to spend €50m on the “white elephant” Thornton Hall super-prison project.

The cross-party public accounts committee confirmed it is writing to the Government department after the fresh concerns over the Celtic Tiger-era purchase, and whether there was any political motivation for the deal.

Since it was bought a decade ago for €50m — a figure far above the cost of other land in the area, leading to significant criticism of then justice minister Michael McDowell — the 150-acre site on the Dublin-Meath border has been a continued bone of contention.