Gilmore

[highorlow]

Same as the rest of them? Giving out about Gov wastage buying land at inflated prices and there he is selling the land himself for 5 times more than it was worth.

He should be forced to resign ....

By Fiach Kelly and Brian McDonald


Tuesday November 02 2010

THE wife of Labour leader Eamon Gilmore was paid €10,000 earlier this year for a small parcel of land next to a site for which she had already received €525,000 from the State.

The additional €10,000 paid to educationalist Carol Hanney came from local fundraisers for a new school in Killimor, Co Galway, the Irish Independent has learned.

The money was raised over a decade through initiatives such as raffle ticket and cake sales, as well as a scheme where locals "sponsored" a brick in the new school for IR£20.

Locals have revealed they "bargained" with Ms Hanney this spring to agree the figure of €10,000 for the small parcel of land. The half-acre add-on came three years after she completed a deal for the original two-and-half-acre site for €525,000 with the Office of Public Works (OPW), acting on behalf of the Department of Education.

The Irish Independent yesterday revealed that the site was now valued somewhere between €50,000 and €100,000 because of the collapse in property and land prices.

It is currently untouched and is in the same condition as it was when Ms Hanney completed the €525,000 sale.

Killimor parish priest Fr Ciaran Kitching said locals determined that the original site was not big enough to accommodate a playground and a hurling pitch beside the school and that it needed to be expanded.

The local school committee decided it was pointless to go back to the Department of Education to ask for more money because of cutbacks and Fr Kitching said they instead dipped into money raised over the past decade.

When Fr Kitching was asked if Ms Hanney had requested a higher price, he said there was "bargaining".

He had dealt with Ms Hanney personally in negotiating the land sale and described her as a "very pleasant person". He said the add-on was needed because the Department of Education had only provided a small site.

"There is a standard size for a certain school population and we were given the standard site," he said.

Fr Kitching said people in Killimor were "delighted" with the second strip of land bought from Ms Hanney.

However, other locals, who did not wish to be named, said there was some unease in paying the €10,000 after the department had already forked out €525,000.

The controversy could prove embarrassing for the Labour leader amid growing criticisms of how the State paid inflated prices for school sites around the country during the property boom.

His own deputy leader -- finance spokeswoman Joan Burton -- hit out last year at "property tycoons" who made "a mountain of money" from selling school sites.

The site -- located on the Loughrea side of Killimor village -- was not even the preferred initial location for the national school, according to local sources.

A committee was established around 15 years ago to raise money to replace the current school, which was built in 1964.

The building, which accommodates 120 pupils, is overcrowded; some classes are held in prefabs; and children have to cross the schoolyard to the main building to use the toilets.

The principal's office is located in a staff toilet. Locals initially began fundraising when they thought they needed a deposit for the school, but the entire bill was taken over by the Department of the Education.

Local sources said they asked people to sponsor bricks of the new school for IR£20, and raised thousands doing so. Other fundraising schemes -- such as raffles and cake sales -- also went toward the new school.

The fundraising committee's account is understood to have a balance of more than €30,000, down from more than €40,000, after the €10,000 given to Ms Hanney was taken out. It is understood it was the first time money had been taken from the fund.

Inherited

Ms Hanney, who is chief executive of Dun Laoghaire VEC, sold both pieces of land from a larger site she inherited from her late mother. The Dun Laoghaire VEC has a staff of 500, and a multi-million euro budget that caters for more than 2,500 pupils.

There are 33 VECs around the country and chief executives can earn up to €146,000. Mr Gilmore, a TD for the Dun Laoghaire constituency, earns around €98,000. A spokesman for Mr Gilmore said yesterday that he had no comment to make. "Eamon has nothing to add to it," he said.

The spokesman added that he did not speak on behalf on Ms Hanney and could not pass on queries to her.

"I don't act on behalf of Carol Hanney. I can't help you."

- Fiach Kelly and Brian McDonald

Irish Independent

[Mayo4Sam]

Hope he gets hung out to dry on this but probably won't.
The one reason I wouldn't like an election in the morning is cause this f**ker would be in power and the unions could destroy us

[muppet]

It's all over - time to close this thread and somebody can start a new one - "The recovery of Ireland and how she became the prize pig of the litter".  The new thread will undoubtedly be a mine of information and important chronological record for economists in years to come as they try and put together the story of the recovery.

Today's Indo Front Page Headine:

Economy has 'turned corner' says top rating agency boss

Here's a link if anybody could be bothered reading such dross:

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/economy-has-turned-corner-says-top-rating-agency-boss-2376296.html

Here is how it has worked for the last few elections.

Indo slags off government month in month out with the occasional attack on FG leader and talking up of Labour leader.

Taoiseach has meeting with the Irish Murdock (which only emerges later).

Indo changes tack completely and supports Government. (Looks like what happened today)

Election announced by Indo of course (they had the exclusive scoop on Bertie going to the Aras last time).

Indo: FF great. FG rubbish (I think this time they will really savage Gilmore though).

FF win election again.

Gesture from Taoiseach to Indo (My money is on Brendan O'Conner to be the next EU commissioner or maybe Ruth Dudley Edwards)

[highorlow]

Oh so the Indo arn't reporting the Facts then?

[muppet]

Oh so the Indo arn't reporting the Facts then?

No they are reporting the facts, just Gilmore's facts.

[An Gaeilgoir]

Hope he gets hung out to dry on this but probably won't.
The one reason I wouldn't like an election in the morning is cause this f**ker would be in power and the unions could destroy us

i am not Gilmores biggest fan but he is putting plenty of distance between him and the unions,

[Donkeywalloper]

Cannot see what the fuss is about. She inherited the land from  her mother. The educational authorities bought it at a time when property prices were high. The locals wanted more ground and bought an additional half acre at €10k.

What am i missing?

[Tubberman]

Cannot see what the fuss is about. She inherited the land from  her mother. The educational authorities bought it at a time when property prices were high. The locals wanted more ground and bought an additional half acre at €10k.

What am i missing?

Nothing as far as I can see.
It's the indo, or IMN (Tony O'Reilly) with their agenda......
The Sindo is a complete and utter disgrace of a rag. I used to think the Indo had some credibility but it looks like they've decided to target Gilmore. I'm not a Gilmore supporter (there's little substance behind what he says), but I hate this shite of the Indo trying to influence the gullible voters. 

[Hound]

Cannot see what the fuss is about. She inherited the land from  her mother. The educational authorities bought it at a time when property prices were high. The locals wanted more ground and bought an additional half acre at €10k.

What am i missing?

Do you really think this lady was approached out of the blue and asked would she sell this site for half a million?

The fact is that the site which was bought was of no use to the school, and thus it hasn't been touched.

Who came up with the idea the site should be purchased by the school/state?
Who pushed it through?
Who decided on the price?
Would the sale have gone through if it was an ordinary joan with no political connections?

[Bogball XV]

Cannot see what the fuss is about. She inherited the land from  her mother. The educational authorities bought it at a time when property prices were high. The locals wanted more ground and bought an additional half acre at €10k.

What am i missing?

Do you really think this lady was approached out of the blue and asked would she sell this site for half a million?

The fact is that the site which was bought was of no use to the school, and thus it hasn't been touched.

Who came up with the idea the site should be purchased by the school/state?
Who pushed it through?
Who decided on the price?
Would the sale have gone through if it was an ordinary joan with no political connections?

who knows hound, who knows, apparently though the sale was agreed at €110K backin around 02, but planning delays led to the purchase not being completed until 2005.  I wonder did she pay all the proper taxes dues, if not, that might be a story.

[Rossfan]

The one reason I wouldn't like an election in the morning is cause this f**ker would be in power and the unions could destroy us

Who are the "us" that "the Unions" will destroy.
As far as I can see most of "us" are destroyed already by "the capitalists" so take off the blinkers Mr Oxymoron 
As for Reilly's rag ....TO'R( the cnut) has obviosly decided it's time to "get" Gilmore so as he won't get into power and maybe upset all poor Tony's little applecarts .

[Mayo4Sam]

The "us" would be Ireland Inc., we are crippled by an inefficient public sector, which in turn is controlled by the unions, who will not allow proper reform. The croke park agreement is a joke, we should be ripping through the public sector cutting jobs and wages. We were promised reforms in the CP agreement and have got nothing so far but are apparently locked into not cutting wages. Ireland is on the verge of going bust, at this stage IMHO we will have to be bailed out, reading any European press will give a better idea of the actual state of our finances and how we're viewed. And we're still paying way over the odds for a sub standard public service. The public sector with their guaranteed jobs should be taking bigger pay cuts.

And just to be clear i work in a semi state

[Rossfan]

If cutting worked we'd have a great economy after the last 2 years .

[Mayo4Sam]

What would you do?

And just to clarify I would invest heavily in making us a world leader in a green technology, either off shore wind generation a la denmark where we would end up as a net power exporter or else in biogas & generating it from grass.
Cutting without strategic spending is useless. This government is putting out fires rather than having any strategy.

[Mayo4Sam]

No suggestions Rossfan?