It Occurs To Me: Seeking forgiveness rather than permission

Undoubtedly, the Murrays displayed extraordinary arrogance in building their five-room mansion in Meath without planning permission over 20 years ago. 

That being said, it was incredibly sad to see such a fine building being razed to the ground. Was there an alternative? 

Fine the Murrays substantially, grant retrospective permission once it was vacated and either resell it or let it? 

I’m at a loss, but the whole episode reminded me of the parlous state of the implementation of planning laws in Ireland. 

Do any of you remember this exercise in can kicking and obfuscation by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien in 2022? 

Let’s remind ourselves that Rory Mulcahy’s report into alleged planning irregularities in Donegal was completed in July 2017.

“I am considering the report, entitled A Review Into Certain Planning Matters in Respect of Donegal County Council, by Mr Rory Mulcahy SC, and will bring this matter to Government for consideration in due course.

With regard to the question of the publication of the Mulcahy Report, the decisions of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (CEI/18/0019) of 13 February 2019 and the Information Commissioner (OIC-59426-Q8D7T8) of 27 February 2020 in relation to requests to publish this report will also be taken into account. Both decisions are publicly available on those bodies[ websites.

“It should be noted that in each of these cases, both the Commissioner for Environmental Information and the Information Commissioner decided not to grant access to the report.

The Office of the Information Commissioner decision stated ‘placing the details concerned in the public domain would significantly breach the rights to privacy of identifiable individuals’. Therefore, this is a matter that requires careful consideration given that the report details unproven allegations against named individuals.” 

When he was in opposition, Fianna Fáil housing spokesman, Darragh O’Brien, called for an update from then-Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy in the interests of transparency. O’Brien replaced Murphy in the housing portfolio following the 2020 general election, and you know what comes next! 

James Browne is the new kid on the block…but no report release! 

“That report has been lying on a desk far too long,” Councillor Tomás Seán Devine of the 100% Redress party told Chris McNulty in this newspaper last year. 

“It is making people look guilty of something. I mean, why isn’t it out there? Why isn’t it being revealed to clear peoples’ good names of any wrongdoing? Numerous Ministers have been looking at the report now, my God. Why can’t it just be put out there? 

We have all heard the rumours, but it needs to be published and it needs to be put out there. If there is nothing to hide, why not have it out in the open?  There are people in the Donegal County Council chamber, why are they not asking for it to be published?”

‘James Browne is the new kid on the block’

In 2024, in response to a parliamentary question from Deputy Catherine Murphy of the Social Democrats, the then Housing Minister, Darragh O’Brien, confirmed that there were over 70 requests for the release of the report. As Chris added: “It appears as if there is no willingness or urgency behind the scenes to release the report. It is believed that there are concerns over the nature of the findings.” And then some!

An investigation by The Journal found that The National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) recent report showed that local councils in Ireland investigate about 7,400 planning enforcement cases per year.

 “This category includes any building that has an issue with planning. So this includes residential properties built without proper permission, like the home in Meath, and it also includes commercial properties, such as a shop with incorrect signage.

“As of 2024 there were almost 22,000 cases under investigation in total, pointing to a significant backlog. This number has steadily increased over time, although this could be expected due to the country’s rising population.

“So if councils started investigating about 7,400 cases, how many did they get through in a year?

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In 2024, which is the most recent year available, it was almost 6,400.m So, what happens in these cases? This is where things get a bit murky.”

Another investigation by Michael Smith, who has been assiduously following the Mulcahy saga, says that: “According to the Planning Regulator, Donegal County Council grants 95% of all planning applications. Given that the vast majority of planning applications are for one-off rural houses in what is arguably Ireland’s most scenic county, the figure is astounding.

However, the rate of permission is called out when almost 50% of the Council’s decisions to grant are reversed by An Bord Pleanála [now an Coimisiún Pleanála] compared with the national average of only 27%.

Over 1,400 unauthorised developments were recorded between 2019 and 2023, an astonishing level of non-compliance indicating the collapse of enforcement as a meaningful function.”

An investigation by The Irish Independent in 2024 found a widespread culture of ‘build now, ask later’ across the country.  

Donegal County Council granted retention permission 1,319 times since 2019. In the same period, it refused 83 requests for retention permission. The Irish Independent also reported that the total figure in Donegal is among the largest of local authorities in the country.

The mica health crisis

I met an old friend in Derry recently. When she retired from a prominent position in the city, she moved to St Johnston. 

Unfortunately, her house was one of the many mica victims. Her reward for years of stress and beating her head against a bureaucratic wall? A heart attack! She also told me of two suicides attributable to the same stresses. 

She expressed the view - held by many - that had mica been a Dublin problem, it would have been solved years ago. The whole saga is not only infuriating but disgusting!

Gouging at the pumps

Immediately on hearing rumours that the government was going to reduce excise duty on fuel (I’m writing this on Monday so I’m unaware of Tuesday’s update) some unscrupulous retailers were sneakily increasing their fuel prices by the same percentage!

There is no doubt that price gouging is and always has been a major problem on forecourts and the aforementioned government seems unwilling or unable to tackle this head on. 

Long before the Iran crisis, I spent 20 cents less per litre in a Donegal border station than the equivalent in one in County Cavan I noticed some days later. 20 cents! 

                                             A battle in Clones

Once upon a time, Monaghan rightly qualified as a bogey team for Donegal. 

Of late mercifully, that has not been the case. Last Sunday’s game had all the hallmarks of a proper Ulster dingdong and the unearthing of new attacking talent like Shea Malone is ground for further optimism. Roll on ‘The Kingdom!’

A few years ago, I happened to be speculating on Donegal’s football prospects with some friends and looking ahead to what ’might’ be a Donegal V Monaghan Ulster Final. 

I happened to use the word ‘Farney’ in connection with Monaghan and proud Clones man, journalist and author, Darach MacDonald reminded me: “Frank, Sometimes Donegal’s football team is incorrectly called Tír Conaill, but as you and I know, that does not include Inis Eoghain. 

However, despite years of contradiction and pleas from bristling Monaghan people, the nickname “Farney county” is persistently used by lazy sports writers who think it[s a great alternative to using "Monaghan".

There's a major problem in this, because Farney leaves out four-fifths of the county. The barony of Farney is in the deep south of the county, a relatively tiny area around Carrickmacross. The other baronies in the county are Cremorne (covering Castleblayney and Ballybay), Monaghan (around the county town), Truagh (McKenna country) and Dartrey (centred on Clones).

It is true that when the GAA was founded in the county, the Farney area was where it took hold. Early Monaghan teams were drawn exclusively from the area, hence the nickname.

Local historian (brother) Brian MacDonald partly favours the nickname because he argues that the Fear Mhaigh tribe, which originally held the borders against Breffni south-east of Clones, were pushed south by the Uí Neill and ended up down on the edge of the Pale defending the frontiers of Ulster. He’s welcome to his opinion.

Seamus McCluskey of Emyvale – local historian, sports columnist and more – has pushed for years for the chosen nickname to be the "Oriel county".

That certainly would be more accurate since Oriel embraced all of county Monaghan, plus neighbouring parts of Fermanagh, Tyrone, Armagh and down to Dundalk which has misappropriated the name since, apart from the Fiddler of Oriel festival! Here endeth the lesson, and I'll bet you didn't expect that for your cry of support – which, by the way, is deeply appreciated. Come on the Oriel County!”