wtf is going on? Bizzarre
Apologies left out link.
Well, this is embarrassing for Neil appears he couldn't get his story straight. Despite having six days to respond to the story by The Ditch if I remember correctly earlier, he claimed he had no part to play in the decision as he was a TD. However, the minutes of the meeting disagree with his story of events.
I don't see how his position is tenable. Given the repeated lies he has told.
N Collins has made a statement this evening about this.
No it's not impossible, pecuniary interests involve an actual or potential financial gain or loss. The property was advertised twice (in the small ads section?) in the Limerick Leader. Why not on myhome, daft etc? The Limerick Leader is published 3 times a week so it was advertised for less than one week in total. Hardly surprising that it had only one expression of interest. Was Collins involvement in this process?
I have never heard a thing Collins has said, so it would difficult to parrot him.
It is basically impossible to have a pecuniary interest in putting something up for sale on the open market at fair market values. He did not vote to sell the land to her as The Ditch is erroneously claiming.
You're just parrotting Collins. According to the Ditch, Collins’s wife, Eimear O’Connor, had written to the council the month before the council meeting seeking to buy the land - if true, this is a pecuniary interest and therefore a conflict of interest for Collins.
It doesn't matter. You are obsessed with this spousal thing as if it matters - it does not.
He had no pecuniary or beneficial interest in voting on putting the site on public sale, the manner of which had not even been decided. He did not vote to sell it to her, he voted to make the land available for sale. There was no legal conflict of interest.
You can argue its morally dodgy and should have political ramifications all you want, but it is incredibly evident that there is no legal issue at play here.
😂 Oh yes yes, the likes of Minister Robert Troy will top the poll in the next election. You've got your finger on the pulse now alright. Deluded.
No, I'm aware it's too late to initiate criminal proceedings.
Lol.
Are we really surprised at yet again another FFG corruption scandal.
Why don't you add to that list the Independent, the Examiner, Virgin News, the Business Post, Paul Murphy, half the posters on this thread.
I take it you are referring to this PART 15 Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service but did you miss the line at the bottom of the page.
(181).
(4) (a) Subject to subsection (6), a person is guilty of an offence where he or she fails to comply with any of the requirements of section 177 , 178 or 179 or who, when claiming to comply with those requirements, gives particulars which are false or which to his or her knowledge are misleading in a material respect.
(b) Proceedings for an offence under this subsection shall not be instituted except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) is liable—
(a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both,
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £10,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
(6) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (4) it is a good defence for the defendant to prove that at the time of the alleged offence he or she did not have actual knowledge and had no reason to believe that a matter in which, or in relation to which, he or she or a connected person had a beneficial interest had arisen or had come before the local authority concerned, or was being considered by it or by a committee or joint body of the local authority, as may be appropriate, or that the beneficial interest to which the alleged offence relates was one in relation to which a requirement of section 177 , 178 or 179 applied.
(7) Summary proceedings for an offence under this Part may be brought by the local authority concerned, subject to subsection (1)(b) or (4)(b).
(8) Notwithstanding section 10(4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 , summary proceedings for an offence under this Part may be commenced—
(a) at any time within 12 months from the date on which the offence was committed,
(b) at any time within 6 months from the date on which evidence sufficient, in the opinion of the local authority by whom the proceedings are initiated, to justify the proceedings, comes to such authority's knowledge,
whichever is the later, but no such proceedings shall be initiated later than 5 years from the date on which the offence concerned was committed.
This is so obvious that I really can't understand what the Ditch are going on about.
Looks like they were co-habiting since the early 2000s and therefore she would have been his spouse at the time of the vote:
“I had acquired a house near Limerick city with my wife (née O’Connor) in 1999, two years earlier.
https://www.independent.ie/news/calls-for-minister-niall-collins-to-answer-dail-questions-over-limerick-land-sale-42447071.html
VM News on about him facing The Dail
Once again, Collins had no "pecuniary or other beneficial interest" in the matter at hand.
You're really scraping the barrel - and they're not available on the CoCo's website. Maybe do some checking before posting nonsense - https://www.limerick.ie/council/your-council/meetings
Limerick CoCo also confirmed to Virgin Media that the minutes weren't readily available in any accessible form due to the merger of county councils in 2014
And nothing, just a polite observation.
And? Though I appreciate it probably won't shut up the gombeens going on about double nothing burgers
Your links are perfect examples of editors treading very carefully.
Of course what The Ditch failed to mention, while they were all caught up in their own Billy Big Balls act - or more likely that they are too stupid to have looked up - is that County Council Minutes are already all in the public domain. In fact, I have no doubt that Minutes from 2007 are readily available online.
And because they are available online, the Council isn't obliged to respond to requests under FoI for things that aren't subject to FoI, such as.....anyone........Council Minutes!
And one other way to see Council Minutes, is to pop into the County Hall any weekday and ask to see the Minutes books which are kept in the Secretariat. You don't have to make out like you're assembling the Avengers and turning the stupid place over.
These Ditch guys are the biggest no-mark losers since Cosgrave himself threw a tantrum over the WiFi at the RDS.
Any breach of PART 15 Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service
But you said their stories were "nothing burgers" (which sounds idiotic in itself), being forced to resign/sacked is literally the biggest implication that could come from a news story on an individual which is precisely the outcome of some of their journalism.
Well its being raised in the 'reputable' media now:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41123953.html
Maybe we don't need to hear any more of the likes of this:
That's the difference between The Ditch and a real media organisation, a newspaper editor will know to pick his battles and not waste everyone's time with ephemera such as this.
I'm literally asking
Regardless of the owners' personal opinions. It's nice to see journalists holding those in public office to account for their actions.
They are not letting Limerick County Council off easily. I do wonder what the minutes of the meeting will reveal if they did indeed get a chance to view them.
The FFG fan folk can jump up and down about the Ditch as much as they like.
The problem for them is that because the stories, at least those that I'm aware of, have been backed up by verifiable evidence, it doesn't matter who the messenger is.
Whatever about their motivations the Ditch have done a great job trawling through obscure public record to show some terrible patterns of behaviour.
I'm no fan of Cummings and his motivations were far from true, but he did a great job of showing Boris up.
Oh right, so it’s not the stories that are nothing burgers it’s the FFG politicians forced to resign that are the nothing burgers.
Peripheral figures who will do their porridge and be appointed again in 2025. No scalps, no memoirs.
Also Paddy Cosgrave who is the main funding behind it has a serious axe to grind with FG, the idea that they arent being driven by a specific anti government party agenda is ludicrous
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