Bitter row in Fianna Fáil over proceeds of house sale

Fianna Fáil headquarters has sparked a bitter row after laying claim to the proceeds of the sale of a house which was bought and maintained by grassroots party members for more than 20 years .

It has already secured almost half the estimated €110,000 sale price of the property in Cork City’s western suburbs amid claims from local party members there was always an understanding that the proceeds of the sale would not be used to fund individual election campaigns.

The proceeds were to be used for the benefit of the party in the immediate area.

In correspondence to headquarters, seen by the Irish Examiner, a Cork cumann expressed the “disappointment and deep anger” of members over the lack of consultation on the sale of the property in Bishopstown, and how party headquarters handled it.

The honorary secretary of the Cearbhail Ó Dálaigh cumann, Michael Shields, has asked Fianna Fáil general secretary Sean Dorgan to address the issue urgently.

A spokesperson for the party said it has received the correspondence and will respond “in due course”.

“In the meantime, respecting the confidentiality of the letter’s author, we will not be discussing what is an internal party matter,” he said.

Mr Shields declined to comment.

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The terraced two-storey property, number 3 Wilton Villas in Bishopstown, was acquired in the early 1990s following a fundraising drive by various cumanns in Bishopstown, and through private donations from Fianna Fáil members and activists.

The property was held in trust by three individuals for the Cearbhail Ó Dalaigh cumann. It was used initially for meetings and storage but had not been in regular use for several years.

It was sold in recent months for a sum believed to be in the region of €110,000.

Party headquarters lay claim to the proceeds, and had already secured the transfer of €50,000 to central coffers.

The party did not respond to queries about whether the money had been used as part of its general election war-chest, or to fund individual election campaigns.

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In the letter to Mr Dorgan, the cumann said it was always understood that, in the event the house was ever sold, the proceeds would be administered for the benefit of the Fianna Fáil party in Bishopstown, given that it was purchased through local fundraising.

The letter includes details of a cumann meeting on January 11, 1994 which showed it got legal advice from a barrister which stated clearly the trustees had “full authority” to dispose of the house.

The letter says the “unique position regarding the property’s ownership” was outlined to an official from party headquarters in Cork on March 15, 2012.

It says the official gave a “strong undertaking and verbal commitment” Fianna Fáil would not seek to make a claim on the proceeds should the property ever be sold. It also says the official offered to write a letter confirming the position, but no letter had been received.

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