Comments on: Who’s watching the watchers?

By: paddoconnell

paddoconnell — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:59:19 +0000

Still here Hanora.
Have a blog http://EncourageChange.Blogspot.com.
Maybe you could make a comment on one of my posts
Then i could have a longer chat with you.
Iv just been reading over how the poor were treated
Years ago by the legal,educational,and so called child
Protection agencies[ispcc,nspcc]etc,etc,Who shovelled children
From workingclass backgrounds into Industrial[hell holes]Schools.
Look up the case of Seamus Dalton who was sent to letterfrack for
six years at ten years of age.And the bribes and inducements that went on in order to keep these institutions full,these bribes were called”subscriptions”today there called political donations?If you have read most of my posts you will see the bias between the Frank dunlops Of this world and the padd o connells when it comes to imprisonment and how different sections of society are treated by the “powers that be”.But hey things could be changeing if the elections are anything to go by.slan

By: Hanora Brennan

Hanora Brennan — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:53:00 +0000

Hey Padd! Where are you?

By: Denis O'Connor

Denis O'Connor — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:11:31 +0000

Seems like Fingal have a serious case to answer here. I assume that Lucy Quinn is Aoife Grogan as she claims to have carried out an assessment of the site. This type of carry on has gone on too long in Ireland. Let’s get it sorted out for once and for all.

By: paddoconnell

paddoconnell — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:14:16 +0000

This post is a reply to two gobshites politicians who had quotes in todays newspapers John Gormley and Charlie Flanagan.Mr Gormley said “Anybody who is guilty of white collar criminality should be held to account and they should have the same standards applied to them as apply to [ORDINARY]people”unquote.Charlie said “Criminals should not be allowed work as debt-collectors,people have been intimidated property has been vandalised,by shadowy figures who promise to deliver the monies owed.So have either of these gents ever experienced a visit from the sheriff,or the banks bully boys,so its ok to be intimidated and have property vandalised if its made legal by the courts?Maybe just maybe if John Gormley took the time to investigate just one case of how a so called ORDINARY person is treated by such authorities as mentioned above then he will see how the bankers and their cronies should be really treated.If they the politicians have never experienced such bias then they cant know what they are talking about,and most of them dont.Go to encouragechange at digg.com.slan

By: Lucy Quinn

Lucy Quinn — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:33:42 +0000

While I am fully supportive of this website I think it is important that the contents are accurate. Specifically, knowing the people to which Mr. Darcy refers I think it is important that a number of issues are corrected. Firstly, it is the policy of Fingal County Council not to engage in pre-planning in instances where the person seeking such advice does not have a legal interest in the site for the very reasons that Mr. Darcy has highlighted. Pre-planning (as clearly stated in the Planning Act) is non-binding and is a mechanism whereby the priciple of devlopment can be established. The fully details of a development will not be assessed until full application stage. It is not a mechanism on which to base the purchase of a site and should not have been used as the basis of Mr. Darcys decision in this instance.

Secondly with regard to the people in question i.e Mr. O’Brien and Ms. Grogan. Mr. O’Brien is an Executive Planner who has worked with Fingal County Council for approximately two years. Ms. Grogan has been an employee of Fingal Council for in excess of 7 years and has been an Executive Planner for in excess of 3 1/2 years. They are both experienced planners however as is standard practice in the Council, on the departure of member of staff, the longest serving officer in a team (in this case Mr. Grogan) is given a temporary acting position, in this case Acting Senior Executive Planner, until such time as the post can be filled following a formal, and advertised, competition process. The appointment of Ms. Grogan is not at odds with standard policy employed across the Council and it was never a case that she was an assistant to Mr. O’Brien or outranked by Mr. O’Brien prior to her appoinment as A/SEP.

As the more senior planning officer at the time of the assessmnet of the application, and having a good knowledge of the subject site as a result of being a planning officer in the area for in excess of 3 years, Ms. Grogan was perfectly within her rights as the A/Senior Executive Planner to overturn a recommendation made by Mr. O’Brien where she deemed the development not to be in the interst of the proper planning and sustainable development of the area. With regard to the supposed error on the Fingal website I cannot comment.

Finally,having reviewed the case it is evident that Mr. Darcy and his wife applied for the development in his wife’s maiden name and not the family name (Darcy) as was the case for previous applications at his home to which he refers. Ms. Grogan was just one of the planners who dealt with several applications for retention of unauthorised works at his home. It was following several applications for refusal of retention by both Fingal County Council and An Bord Pleanala that a Judge ordered Mr. Darcy to demolish several elements of his home which did not have the benefit of Planning permission. It is questionable of Mr. Darcy to insinuate that previous applications made by himself and his wife and resulting enforcement proceedings pursued by the Council had any bearing on the decision making process in relation to the site at Kitestown Road.

I have assessed Mr. Darcy’s application and it is clear that the concerns raised by Mr. O’Brien in relation to the heights of proposed houses, in his additional information request. As far as I can see the application is now the subject of a first and third party appeal to An Bord Pleanala who, as an independent body, will assess the merits of the proposed development afresh and will issue a decision in due course.

By: tom darcy

tom darcy — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:10:38 +0000

In June of last year prior to purchasing a site at Thormanby Road / Kitestown Road Howth. Lisney Selling agent market price €12m. I had my Architects meet with Fingal County Council with reference to a proposed Development of a exclusive designer village, we sought nine houses, on conclusion of the meeting seven individual designed houses was agreed in principle with Paul O’Brien executive planner for Howth area. I purchased site. The following week we submitted revised site layout /plans for seven houses for Paul O’ Brien attention.
By direction of Paul O’ Brein we have submitted three sets of revised house plans, three sets of revised engineering plans and had three pre-planning meetings with three planning applications with Paul O’ Brein from June 2007 to May 2008 finally on the 23rd of May I received a request for additional information, I immediately contacted Paul O’Brien by Phone he informed me that he was happy with heights of the houses but just wanted to satisfy interested parties. He requested a photomontage to show that proposed development would not impact the amenity of the area. We meet with Paul O’ Brien on the 30th of May 2008 and presented the photomontages as directed in the additional information with additional points from Balkhil Road to identify no intrusion of protected views would accure, he inspected the booklet of photos at that meeting he expressed satisfaction that the visual impact was acceptable and the height/ scale/ bulk of proposed development was addressed (as later confirmed in his report). I submitted montage the next day as per his request I expected a grant of planning by late June.
On June the 25th I checked Fingals website and noticed under decisions a grant of planning which out lined conditions of grant i.e. reductions in height of 300mm to all houses on my site and a reduction of 1.6m to house (G) [Grant attached], we contact Paul O’ Brien to inquire about informative, he informed me that he was no longer dealing with my case although he is still the registered case officer on file , he directed me to Aoife Groggan, I spoke to her about informative with reference to additional pictures, she requested me to ring back on Monday the 30th of June. My wife spoke to Aoife on Monday the 30th of June for over thirty five minutes with reference to the extreme remoteness of the pictures requested some as far as a quarter of a mile from proposed site, Aoife expressed obivious distain for our application and stated that the houses obscured the land horizon which her senior in his report contradicted, (as clearly seen in the photomontages)Aoife was not aware that the grant was posted on the Fingal wed site and was directed to its display with the conditions of the grant in view Aoife informed my wife that this was an error and should not have been posted, the posting was removed shortly afterwards that day. My wifes belief was that our application was going to be refused and stated that this was not going to happen again as was the case last year, Aoife Groggan was the planner who refused retention for my family home resulting in the action by Fingal County Council resulting in my home being demolished. I called David O’ Connor manager of Fingal County Council and Gilbert Power Director of services and left details of my grave concerns of new events and my belief that my application was going to be refused, I was assured I would receive a return call that day, they never replied Aoife Grogan had No known involvement with my planning application and to my knowledge was Paul O’Briens assistant it would seem at a time of Job freezing someone appointed her temporary acting senior planner, a positions above Paul O’ Brien. Her position was not Advertised on the Web or posted internally by Fingal HR.
It would seem Aoife Grogans first action was not to address her own work load with her new appointment but to overturn Paul O’ Brien’s decision on my grant of planning an extroadinary action in the last week of an application which incurred over five hundred thousand euro’s in revised plans with numerous agreements with other sections of Fingal County Council i.e. Social and Affordable housing I was to supply two houses at a cost of €840,000.00, Parks Department I was to supply a one hundred and sixty five metre wall with railings costing €475,000.00, open space contribution over €300,000.00 and planning fees of €575,000.00 plus the €1.7M in interest since initial agreement with Paul O’ Brien. My application was senior level, for a newly temporary acting senior within days of appointment to overturn an executive planner’s decision to Grant and then remove it and to seek Clarification of additional information without a report or site visit or direction from a senior planner is more than serious negligents.
It begs belief that a temporary appointed senior planner without consultation to her superiors could overturn her original superior’s decision in granting me Planning and subsequently remove it while there were experienced planner available in her office on that day 23rd/24th of July i.e. Nicholas O Kane senior executive Planner Tom Watts Senior Executive planner Gilbert Power Director of Services and David O’ Connor Fingal Manager.
My site was zoned for unrestricted residential use unlike Borg Developments adjacent to my site that had serious restrictions attached to it but yet was granted planning for 19 house with heights of 10.6m without the request of photomontages ( planning officer from start to finish Paul O’ Brien), plus across from our site in the SAAO area a 5m height bungalow was granted to be demolished and replaced by two three storey houses with 9.6m height( planning officer Paul O’ Brien from start to finish) there are numerous other recent grants adjacent to our site.
The consequence of this action places my €35 million project and affiliated companies generating over three hundred and seventy five jobs at risk.

By: paddoconnell

paddoconnell — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:13:41 +0000

http://www.tribune Hi everyone back for another rant its a “PUBLIC INTEREST”rant and its to do with the director of public prosecutions and the newly formed garda ombudsman commission.The public interest part is about equality before the law and the independence of the dpps office which was created in 1974,Some acts were passed in relation to that office since its inception
mainly the criminal justice act 2003 and the garda siochana act 2005.So my query is who represents the publics interest in that institution?Or is it the attorney generals job to keep an eye on our interests,after all there was an act passed establishing the director provides that the a.j. shall consult together from time to time on matters pertaining to the “FUNCTIONS”of the director.And if ever they need to talk it is now after kieran boylan case comments on{www.tribune.ie]under story”gangland list is stolen from squad car?]The whole purpose of been truly independent is not to be beholden to anyone “a joke in irish demoracy”There is already a perception in workingclass communities that certain dark forces or elements[grey haired men]have the power to influence or interfere with the business of the office of public prosecutions.Before i go any further i will quote judge peter kelly”he said a trial could not be prejudiced prior to charges being preferred .So does the public have a “RiGHT”to know?or are institutions whos powers are too great have limited answerability and above all “ACCOUNTABILITY” allowed carry on in secret?Read all my posts and the public{those who are concerned]will see why we are such a divided society.Under the constitution all not certain sections of the community should have equality before the law”take note emily reilly”To finish we will think of well placed”SOURCES”?and an article in the phoenix magazine,What a cretain journalist did not tell its readers is an equally interesting story of corrupt gardi,John O NEILl,who was working for certain underworld figureswho were suspected of involvement in veronica guerins murder in 1996 o neill was working for these men both before and after the journalists shooting,garda john o neill pleaded guilty to charges of corruprion and was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.According to his own confession o neill secured passport documentation for the gang and that one of them told him he was putting hin oneill on the payroll at 500 euro a week.One of the things he was to do in return was to look out for a certain few in the gang,This garda o neill did at a time when the entire garda force in the country[DUBLIN]knew that a certain member of the gang was a suspect for the guerin shooting.Roll on the reasons project and the true and honest independence of the garda siochana ombudsmans office[commission]Also has Diarmuid Martin archbishop of dublin given up hope of a open crime forum if he has ,how does he think those from a working class background feel in relation to “HOPE”/national SECURITY vs ADVERSITY.slan

By: paddoconnell

paddoconnell — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:21:44 +0000

yes hanora i have.but back to the subject of class immunity which has raised its ugly head this week in relation to cocaine, the well educated well connected middle and ruleing classes were never touched by the state and its agents over many many years concerning their privliged drug parties,this allowed those same so called well connected morons boast in the media print and broadcast about their exploits,did anything ever happen to them because of their bragging?the blind eye syndrome is alive and thriveing in ireland, if your from the socalled right side of the fence.if you check the social life of dublin in 1911,you will see that not much has changed in relation to corruption and class previlege,those so called public representatives that represented the poor of dublin owned the squalid tenement houses the poor lived in “check out what it has to say about those same landlords”{the 1914 housing inquiry}i thought it a sick joke the recent article in the papers involving dublin city council,ITS COUNCILLORS,the lord mayor of dublin,who cried forcefully ,that they were never “CONSULTED”about the sale of clontarf golf club.and there assertion that they the council has a duty of care to the citizens of dublin to makr shure “certain privileged people” dont enrich themselves at the expense of the public.as joe higgins stated the councils are riddled with politicians who have a vested interest in land matters.like wise when it comes to disadvantaged communities when i said in my posts of 18,july and 18 aug,how is it that not one person from a disadvantaged background has never been brought before the mahon tribunal or any other tribunal dealing with ethics or corruption?there has been a conspriracy of silence regarding privileged societys drug parties by those that rule and run this state{or republic}for decades,the same conspriracy prevailed when heroin started to invade working class communities in the early 1980s.its a political joke to now demand what should have been done thirty years ago regarding drug use and the upper classes.no the grey haired men ruled then and now thats how society is so divided and the law,rules ,and regulations dont apply equally.they say an angel died this week,my angel is the liveing dead as the letter on indymedia will show ,under {historical }in 2000,its about time the corrupt grey haired men started the “social constrution of reality”pat carey says they wont legalise drugs?my angel is now a “state drug addict”she most certainly wasent a “PLASTIC IMAGE”of the medias making.so again diarmuid martin wheres the debate?slan

By: Hanora Brennan

Hanora Brennan — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:30:14 +0000

Pad …. have you tried the ratemysolicitor website?

By: paddoconnell

paddoconnell — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:27:43 +0000

in 1997 judge matthews said ,never in the history of child care in this state has one child care worker caused so much damage .if these facts teach us anything ,it is we must LISTEN to those who cannot and HAVE NOT IN THE PAST BEEN “HEARD”.?in 2007 geraldine fitzgerald said”what the hell is wrong with people”when she was refeering to the d.p.ps office on their decision not to prosecute her complaints of “BRUTALITY AND CRUELTY”against her parent?it reminds me of a letter i sent my public representative on the 9th november 2000.which could have been a matter of life or death,so does every life count?or is it only those in a certain club{the elite}that matters.for instance it was stated in the media that a consortium of senior gardi will lose up to two million euro because of their dealings “INVESTMENTS”in property through solicitor michael lynn.on the other side of the coin you have those mysterious garda sources who tried to blacken the name of a “GOOD SAMATRIAN”by telline reporters that derek o toole was a thug and a trouble maker and was known to the gardi?it is a known and stated fact that dark and evil deeds are carried out in pursuit of power in the shadowy world of crime and intellingence gathering,watch tonights rte 1,programme scannal.who was it that said that major injustices start as “MINOR”infringements???????was derek o tooles infringement minor?as the morris tribunal will show you speak your mind at your peril.?there were plenty of frank shortts and mc breartys long before the morris tribunal.you are thought in school and church whats right and wrong,and who to look up too,pillars of the community that you were led to beleive can do no wrong{BRAINWASHED}it had to be a shock for many over the years to find out those teachings were very false.some found out the hard way others the easy a lot just couldnt cope.COMPARE judge frank clarke and many other pillars of irish society know what i am refeering too.EITHER THE LAW RULES AND REGULATIONS ARE APPLIED EQUALLY OR THEY DONT APPLY AT ALL.that also includes alleged drink driveing and the process that follows.IF THE PUBLIC AT LARGE LOOK CLOSE ENOUGH THEY WILL SEE THAT “THE GREY HAIRED MEN”HAVE ALWAYS RULED THE ROOST.by hook or by crook.so bishop martin can you or anyone make a real change to the us and them syndrome?slan