Council refuses to clarify if its CEO knew of extortion racket

Dublin City Council has refused to clarify if its chief executive Owen Keegan or senior management knew that protection money was paid to criminals under the guise of ‘security’ at a housing development.

• Timeline of events connected to extortion payments
• Summer 2016: Dublin City Council begins construction of a west Dublin housing development. Legitimate local protests take place as the planned site will encroach on a community garden area
• Autumn 2016: An initial security firm is appointed after which a JCB operator is doused in petrol
• October-November 2016: The original security firm is replaced by a group involving two individuals later named in the High Court as Derek O’Driscoll, 46, and Derek Reilly, 36 who are subsequently given €500,000 for ‘fence repairs’ and ‘security’. The violence and anti-social behaviour suddenly stops
• December 24, 2016: Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Sinn Féin councillor Daithi Doolan write to then housing minister Simon Coveney, then justice minister Frances Fitzgerald, junior minister for drugs Catherine Byrne, Dublin City Council and the local Garda superintendent toraise protection money concerns
• January 5-6, 2017: Justice minister Frances Fitzgerald’s office acknowledges the letters, saying the gardaí are examining the matter
• October 8, 2019: Scale of the extortion payments revealed in High Court
• October 9: Ms Byrne confirms she was aware of the case in late 2016, while Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy says he knew nothing about it
• October 10: Mr Coveney says that he was never told of the December 2016 correspondence by officials, while a spokesperson for Ms Fitzgerald does not respond to queries.Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy launches an independent investigation amid calls for a nationwide protection money review