Independent investigation into allegations of council corruption

An independent investigation is to take place into allegations of corruption in Donegal County Council.

The investigation, announced by chief executive, John McLaughlin, will include the council's purchase of five mica-affected houses in Buncrana from a developer.

Speaking at today's ongoing Donegal County Council plenary meeting in the Aura leisure centre, in Letterkenny, Mr McLaughlin said: “We have agreed in council, particularly [in regard to] the five houses in Buncrana, to have an external review carried out, by an outside company to go through the files.

“As you know, we brought two reports to council on it and there is still comment being made.

“We will have a full look and bring that back to you [councillors], a detailed review, hopefully in the coming weeks.

“As the cathaoirleach [Cllr Jack Murray (Sinn Féin)] has mentioned, it has been passed on to An Garda Síochána already and, I understand, it is with two government departments. I would say, having looked at it, we don't see any evidence of corruption but we will allow others to have a look at it and go through the detail.

"Corruption is a very, very serious word to use and indeed to back up but we are happy that someone else will look at that, separately from us, and I will come back to you, hopefully in March,” said Mr McLaughlin.

Cllr Gary Doherty (Sinn Féin) said allegations had been made staff members and councillors were looking after their own needs.

He added: “This corruption needs to be investigated.

“Like most members, I was extremely alarmed at these allegations and, as elected members of Donegal County Council, we all, each and every one of the 37 elected councillors have a duty of care to our constituents and to the county itself, to take these allegations very seriously. It is our duty to ensure the Council itself is taking the allegations seriously, that the allegations have been substantiated and that a proper investigation is launched into these allegations.

“There was a subsequent request that any and all evidence of this corruption would be passed to yourself [cathaoirleach] and to the chief executive, so it could be investigated immediately and that those responsible for any alleged corruption would be held to account.

“In the public interest, and for full transparency, I ask has this evidence firstly been presented, has it been forwarded to An Gardaí Síochána to be investigated and are investigations ongoing? Obviously these claims are of a most grievous nature and like all councillors I would like to know the claims have been substantiated and they are being investigated properly,” said Cllr Doherty.

Cathaoirleach Jack Murray said he shared councillor Doherty's concerns.

He added: “I think those allegations are extremely serious. As cathaoirleach at the time, I committed to looking in fully and to assisting in any way uncovering or addressing these allegations.

"I wrote to both councillors [Cllr Frank McBrearty and Cllr Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig], along with the chief executive, and asked for those allegations to be substantiated.

“On January 31, I hadn't received a response to those letters. In the intervening period, I did receive a response from one councillor, a number of freedom of information request responses with hand written notes on them, which alleged corruption. I immediately sent that on the An Garda Síochána, the right body where they should be investigated. The information is with them.

“I have spoken to the chief executive and we have agreed we can take in an independent body to investigate these allegations and thoroughly go through it. If there is corruption, it needs to be called out and addressed but, likewise, if there isn't, the people that have been named have the right to have their names cleared of that. The investigation will be in the most transparent fashion possible, allegations will be addressed and thoroughly looked into,” said Cllr Jack Murray.

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