On Tuesday, Wicklow County Council issued a notice to the developers Seefin Events Unlimited notifying them of the Council’s decision to refuse to grant permission for the retention of a whole range of constructions and installations that are part of an existing refugee accommodation centre at Kippure Estate.
County Councillors Gerry O’Neill and John Snell had regularly attempted to have the controversial proposal – which includes the construction of 65 houses, which opponents had claimed were constructed without the necessary permissions – raised at the Council but found little support until recently.
Welcoming the decision to refuse the permission, Councillor O’Neill who is a candidate for the general election in the Wicklow constituency, pointed out that previous efforts by himself and Councillor Snell did not have the support of other Councillors and that some “in fact blocked me when I tried to raise this scandal in the Council Chamber on two occasions over the past 12 months.”
One proposal at the September meeting of Wicklow Council to discuss the issue was defeated by 17 votes to 12. The entire situation was described by O’Neill as rather bizarre given that the developers were being given leeway to appeal to An Bord Pleanála regarding refusal of a permission which they did not have in the first instance.
At its meeting on October 7, Wicklow County Council let it be known that it was to take a High Court action related to the site, which as Councillor O’Neill noted was not before its time, for as he pointed out to Gript’s Fatima Gunning last month: “How can you go for retention of 65 houses when you don’t even have a planning number? What’s going on?.”
The Wicklow decision comes following the moves by Westmeath County Council to challenge on planning grounds the IPAS intent to proceed with a new centre at Lissywollen and a motion on Fingal County Council by National Party Councillor Patrick Quinlan and one in Mayo by Aontú Councillor Paul Lawless to call for their respective local authorities to challenge the awarding of contracts on similar grounds.
Concern is being expressed, however, that the company involved will appeal the decision of Wicklow County Council to An Bord Pleanála and that in the meantime they will continue to be able to accommodate people on the site and to draw down large amounts of money in payments channelled through the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
The concern over the likelihood of how the contractors will react follows the report by Fatima Gunning here in September that the company involved did not take down the 65 dwellings in question despite the earlier order from the Council. The site accommodates 200 IPAS applicants and is owned by Goldstein Properties and is managed by Seefin Unlimited.
Goldstein Property is connected to Quanta Capital which as we revealed previously is backed by the vast American based global management fund, Oaktree. Oaktree controlled global assets of more than $170 billion in 2023. Which is an indication of both the attraction of the Irish refugee accommodation sector to such entities and the fact that the Irish companies involved are in many cases a conduit for overseas investors.
Goldstein Property also owns premises in East Wall and at Airways Industrial Estate, Santry, which have also been used to accommodate persons claiming International Protection. One of the directors of Quanta Capital, Eoghan Coughlan, is also listed as a director of Goldstein Holdings Limited, registered in the Isle of Man, and Goldstein Properties UK.
Barrister Joe Christle is also registered as one of the directors of Goldstein Properties UK and the founder and CEO of Quanta Capital, Mel Sutcliffe is listed as a “person of significant control” in the company. Christle is also currently the Chair of Quanta Capital.
One of those who was part of the advisory board of Quanta Capital was Lady Alice de la Poer Beresford who was overseeing the operation of Kippure estate and Kippure Lodge.
Seefin Events which manages the Kippure centre was granted as loan, as we previously revealed, by a financial company controlled by former Anglo Irish Bank executive Tiarnan O’Mahoney.
Sinead Fennelly is listed as a director of Seefin Events as well as other companies including Gateway, Burvea and Airways which have been involved in the management of IPAS centres. Seefin is listed as 100% owned by a company called Edgewell which is listed as 100% owned by Besga, formerly Bergvon both of which are registered in the Isle of Man.
As a number of election candidates including Carol Nolan and Nick Delahanty have pointed out, and as Gript’s reportage for several years of the mysterious networks involved in the multi billion asylum sector have lifted some of the veil on, there really needs to be a full public inquiry into the entire system of the awarding of contracts and payments of funds in this area.
This, rather than silly “look over there” squabbling about the comparatively minor sums involved in building bicycle sheds and paying for mobile phone pouches, should be at the centre of the demands for proper oversight and scrutiny in what is rapidly becoming one of the main recipients of public funds.