Gardai make arrest over poison-pen letters sent to University of Limerick staff
Gardai are conducting two enquiries in relation to the institution
GARDAI have arrested a man following a complaint made over anonymous poison-pen letters addressed to individuals in the senior ranks of University of Limerick (UL).
Limerick Live revealed that gardai were investigating the latest scandal to hit the university last April.
A source in UL, at that time, confirmed that anonymous letters were addressed to a large number of senior officials in UL and the letters made reference to at least one staff member.
“The letters were all copies of each other. Thankfully, someone had the good sense to stop them before they were widely circulated. They made nasty and unreasonable comments against people in here. To do something like that and not even put your name to it is just cowardly,” said the source.
Another source at UL confirmed the incident, saying, “It is something that should not have happened and it’s of course very upsetting for anyone targeted in a campaign like that".
“The allegations contained in the letters were absolute rubbish anyway. All these things, of course, go through a process and it was ultimately confirmed that the letters didn’t disclose anything that required action by UL,” said the source regarding the incident which dates back to mid-2023.
Limerick Live learned that at least one of the people, who was mentioned in the anonymous letters, made a formal complaint to gardai.
A garda spokesperson told Limerick Live this week: “An Garda Síochána in Limerick is conducting a criminal investigation into alleged harassment of a member of staff at an educational establishment in Munster.”
The spokesperson said as part of this investigation, An Garda Síochána recently arrested an individual. Limerick Live understands it occurred last week.
“They were released without a charge and a file has been sent to the DPP. An Garda Síochána does not comment on the details of ongoing investigations,” said the garda spokesperson.
When contacted by Limerick Live about the arrest, a spokesperson for University of Limerick declined to comment.
Gardai are conducting a second enquiry in relation to UL - “possible fraud” over the acquisition of 20 homes in Rhebogue.
Limerick Live broke the story in April that UL made a “possible fraud” referral to gardai over the ‘“Rhebogue acquisition” which saw the institution overpay by €5.2m for 20 homes.
It is understood that the view was formed that “in all the circumstances a referral to An Garda Síochána under Section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act 2011 is appropriate”.
That section “places a legal obligation on you to report to An Garda Síochána, information relating to possible frauds which you know or believe might prevent the fraud being committed, or secure the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of a person involved in fraudulent activity".
In March, Chancellor Brigid Laffan told UL staff that the fact that this overspend had occurred so soon after a similar overspend on the former Dunnes Stores site was "completely shocking and alarming".
In the same month, the Higher Education Authority instructed the college's governing authority to review the purchase of the houses.
The university remains without a president after Kerstin Mey resigned in June.