Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Comhairle Contae Dhún Laoghaire-Ráth an Dúin
Type
Type	County council of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown
Leadership
Cathaoirleach	John Bailey, Fine Gael
Members	28
Political groups	Fine Gael (12)      Labour Party (8)      Fianna Fáil (4)      PBPA (2)      Independents (2)
Elections
Last election	5 June 2009
Meeting place
County Hall, Dún Laoghaire
Website
www.dlrcoco.ie

The area governed by the council

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (Irish: Comhairle Contae Dhún Laoghaire-Ráth an Dúin) is the local authority for the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition and one of four councils in the Dublin Region. It serves a population of approximately 192,000. The county seat is Dún Laoghaire. Major population centres include Blackrock, Dundrum, Stillorgan, Ballybrack, Killiney and Dalkey. Twenty eight members serve on the council, whose executive management is led by a County Manager, currently Owen Keegan.

History

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council traces its history back to local government structures that have existed in the area since 1834. The Council was established under the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993 by the merger of the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire and that part of Dublin County Council that corresponded to the former Rathdown No 1 Rural District. The two sides of the County have distinct histories in terms of local government structures.

On the Dún Laoghaire side of the County, the Corporation of Dún Laoghaire had been established by the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930 as a successor body to Kingstown Town Commissioners. Those Commissioners were established in 1834 and were subsequently renamed Kingstown Urban District Council and then Dún Laoghaire Urban District Council.

On the Rathdown side of the County, Dublin County Council and Rathdown No. 1 Rural District Council were established under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Rathdown No. 1 Rural District Council was abolished by the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930.

Councillors

The county is divided into six Local Electoral Areas (LEAs), each of which elects between 3–6 councillors. They are: Ballybrack (6), Blackrock (4), Dundrum (6), Dún Laoghaire (6), Glencullen/Sandyford (3) and Stillorgan (3).

2009 Seats summary

Party		Seats
	Fine Gael	12
	Labour Party	8
	Fianna Fáil	4
	People Before Profit Alliance	2
	Independents	2

Councillors by electoral area

This list reflects the order in which councillors were elected on 5 June 2009.

Council members from 2009 election
Local Electoral Area	Name	Party
Ballybrack	Denis O'Callaghan		Labour Party
	Carrie Smyth		Labour Party
	Maria Bailey		Fine Gael
	Hugh Lewis		People Before Profit
	Donal Marren		Fine Gael
Blackrock	Barry Ward		Fine Gael
	Maria Baker		Fine Gael
	Niamh Bhreathnach		Labour Party
	Victor Boyhan		Independent
Dundrum	Jim O'Leary†		Fine Gael
	Aidan Culhane		Labour Party
	Pat Hand		Fine Gael
	Aoife Brennan		Fianna Fáil
	Tony Fox		Independent
Dún Laoghaire	Richard Boyd Barrett		People Before Profit
	John Bailey		Fine Gael
	Mary Mitchell O'Connor		Fine Gael
	Cormac Devlin		Fianna Fáil
	Stephen Fitzpatrick		Labour Party
	Jane Dillon Byrne		Labour Party
Glencullen/Sandyford	Lettie McCarthy		Labour Party
	Neale Richmond		Fine Gael
	Tom Joyce		Fine Gael
	Tom Murphy		Fianna Fáil
Stillorgan	Barry Saul		Fine Gael
	Gearóid O'Keeffe		Fine Gael
	Richard Humphreys		Labour Party
	Gerry Horkan		Fianna Fáil

^†Replaced by Jim O'Dea

Controversies

M50 and compensation to Jackson Way Properties

An agreement was reached for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to compensate Jackson Way Properties by €12,860,700 for the compulsory purchase in October 1998 of its freehold interest in the lands, adjoining the M50 motorway.^[1] The Council agreed to pay costs and expenses properly incurred by Jackson Way Properties in relation to preparation and submission of its claim although to date nothing has being paid.

The Award total is broken down as follows:

• Land Taken €9,691,000
• Injurious Affection €2,296,700
• Disturbance €873,000

It is now the view of the Criminal Assets Bureau that €4.2 million of this award represents the present value of corrupt enrichment by the property owners although this view is based on hearsay evidence given by Mr Frank Dunlop.

A company called Paisley Park Investments Ltd were registered as full owners in 1992 and the land was transferred to Jackson Way Properties in 1993, the beneficial owners of which are believed by the CAB to be arcade owner James Kennedy and solicitor John Coldwell.

Criminal Assets Bureau Investigation

The CAB successfully obtained a High Court order on 26 July 2006 freezing land assets of 107 acres (0.43 km²) at Carrickmines, County Dublin owned by Jackson Way Properties Ltd and preventing their sale.^[2] CAB contended that these lands had been rezoned on 16 December 1997 by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council from agricultural to industrial after Frank Dunlop bribed and made corrupt payments to councillors to secure their support in the rezoning vote. That vote increased the value of just 17 acres (69,000 m²) of the property from €8 million to €61 million. CAB has interviewed and taken statements from Frank Dunlop and will use him as a witness against a number of property developers although Mr Dunlop is currently in prison serving a jail sentence for corruption.

The lands in question have been the subject of investigation by The Mahon Tribunal in 2003 and 2004.

The case CAB -V- Jacksonway properties is due for hearing in the High Court Dublin in October 2010 and given the amount of affidavits that have being filed in the case it appears it will be vigorously defended with Jackson Way denying any wrong doing and Mr Kennedy a tax exile currently living in Gibraltar returning to give evidence in the case. Jackson Way have given the court notice that they intend to subpoena Councillors to give evidence.It is worth noting that no councillor to date has been charged with any form of wrongdoing in relation to rezoning

References

1. ^ Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Co Statement on Jackson Way compensation, November 18 2003
2. ^ CAB blocks sale of €60m parcel at Carrickmines, Irish Independent, July 27 2006

External links

• Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council website