*Bunratty Castle & Folk Park.
GOVERNANCE standards of Clare County Council have come under scrutiny over the manner in which a deal to purchase land in Bunratty was carried out.
An external audit of Clare County Council has found difficulties with securing information regarding an almost €1m deal in Bunratty both with land registry issues and the inability of the local authority to maintain a complete file.
As part of the transfer of Shannon Heritage sites to Clare County Council, Bunratty Castle & Folk Park now falls under the management of the local authority.
A Local Government Audit report from 2023 on Clare County Council which was released this week has raised concerns which have been amplified by elected members regarding the manner in which the local authority has conducted its business on some deals.
Regarding two land purchases in Bunratty, the external auditor highlighted, “it proved challenging and time consuming to obtain all the necessary information as a complete file was not maintained”.
In the report, the external auditor stated that the Council paid €62,000 in stamp duty in 2023 to execute a call option to purchase land at Bunratty. “The Council accrued €947k in the capital account however, at the date of this report, land registry issues have been cited for the deal not closing”.
According to the external auditor, the County Council will need to consider whether its property unit is capable of managing tourism acquisitions. “Given the significant expenditure on these land purchases substantial improvements are necessary in this directorate and consideration should be given by management as to whether tourism acquisitions should come under the remit of the property unit of the Council”.
Former Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Pat Dowling in a written response to these comments detailed, “As part of the transfer of the Shannon Heritage functions to Clare County Council from the Shannon Airport Group, the Council inserted a purchase op agreement for the additional lands surrounding Bunratty Castle and Folk Park.
“The rationale was to protect the offering in Bunratty and prevent a speculative sale which could be detrimental to the tourist offering at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. All matters in relation to the land purchase at Bunratty have now been resolved and the sale is now moving to closure.
“Clare County Council Tourism Directorate is committed to ensuring that system and processes are in place for all of its activity. The function will be managed the Tourism Directorate lead with the support and guidance of the Property Unit of the Council as necessary,” Dowling added.
That a complete file was not maintained in the eyes of the external auditor is “a fairly damning indictment of how the organisation is doing its business,” remarked Cllr Shane Talty (FF).
He said it was “difficult” for elected members as they were reliant on the external auditor to look back with the challenge of drilling into the detail and budget lines. “There is a theme running through the report which queries governance,” the Lahinch representative commented. “There are significant sums of expenditure that we’re only hearing about in a historic sense”.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Pat Hayes noted there were “substantial issues” for the local authority regarding land purchases at Bunratty and the Cliffs of Moher. “You’d have to read the report from the auditor to get their views on it,” he said. “It doesn’t add to good communications with items brought up this year and for 2023,” the Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District added.
Cathaoirleach of the Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) felt the Council’s top table had a duty to inform elected members when they were acquiring land. “I understand the Executive doesn’t have to let us know they are purchasing a piece of land but it might be nice to know if they let us know when a deal is done rather than hearing it at a hurling match, at mass or the pub so they we are letting the people know not the other way around”.
Interim Chief Executive of the Council, Carmel Kirby reminded councillors that they were advised following the local elections that governance guidelines were to be formed on all of the Council’s entities, “that has started, we’ll be putting a report before members when it is drafted”. She added, “I can assure members and the public that there is good governance across Clare County Council and all its directorates, there is always room for improvement”. She said every local authority has “an awful lot of work to be done” to “to accurately register every single property that we own”.
Head of Finance, Noeleen Fitzgerald told the meeting there was no time delays in providing the external audit from 2023, “it was finalised late last year”.
