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In the small town of Patrickswell, Co Limerick, locals had mixed feelings about a patch of land in their area that has become the centre of a political controversy on a national scale.
The former council land, still undeveloped as The Irish Times visited on Saturday, was sold in 2008 to Dr Eimear O’Connor, the wife of Fianna Fáil junior minister Niall Collins.
Mr Collins was a member of Limerick Co Council in 2007 when the Bruff local area committee agreed to put the land on the market. However, he was not a member of the council the following year when the site was sold.
Mr Collins told the Dáil on Thursday that the sale was “all done on full transparency” and that “anyone” could have bid on the site.
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John Buston, who lives in a house in Marian Park, right next to the site, said that “all the newspaper ink” that is being devoted to the plot of land is of little interest to him. He would like to see the site being used in some capacity, given that it has been many years since it was purchased.
“I have no objections as to who owns it. Fair play to them – they had the money. It went up for sale and they had the bit of money and bought it.
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[ Niall Collins: The events that led to the sale of a site by Limerick County Council to his wife ]
“Of course I would like to see a house [being built there]. There is only rubbish being dumped there now. Now there is all this commotion about it. We just want something sorted there. But it is not the talk of the town.”
Mr Buston said that when the land was first purchased 15 years ago the word locally was that a bungalow would be built onsite.
“Nobody here had any objections to a bungalow, or a two-storey or even two two-storeys. There was talk of something that was three or four storeys going up. There was an objection to it. Would you want that looking in your window?”
A previous planning application for three-storey buildings on the site owned by Dr O’Connor was objected to by members of the local community, who described the development as “too high” in a petition and expressed concern about the proposed buildings overlooking existing buildings.
“There are certain fellas [in Ireland] who would hate for you to have a shovel never mind a half an acre”
That application, in 2018, was refused due to its “overbearing impact”, but a later planning permission was granted in 2020 for a terrace of five two-storey two-bed units.
“We are as wise now as we were back then as to what is going to happen. The papers are full of stories but let’s face it, a paper never refused ink,” Mr Buston said.
He added that Mr Collins and his family – the junior minister is a third-generation politician – have done a lot for the town over the years. He wouldn’t like to see him lose his job arising out of the media attention which The Ditch investigation has attracted.
“He has done a lot and he continues to do a lot. I wouldn’t like to see anyone lose their job. The Collins are good people.
“There are certain fellas [in Ireland] who would hate for you to have a shovel never mind a half an acre. We don’t mind what goes there once something is done about it. If there was a pub there, we would all go!”
Meanwhile, Mary Darcy, who lives in Marian Park, said that she believes Mr Collins needs to further clarify matters in relation to the purchase of the site.
“You are being told certain things but you don’t know what to think,” she said. “I suppose really at the time of the vote he should have recused himself. He didn’t even do that.
“I would 100 per cent like to see him [clarify it more]. I love to see people like yourself coming to the park because we now know people are listening to us. It feels like he said what he said and we are supposed to get on with it.
“I think a lot of people feel there should be more of an explanation of it and we are not getting it.”
She said when the site was first purchased locals heard that it was going to be turned in to a medical centre. However, it never materialised.
“We were all delighted with the talk of a medical centre because it is needed. Then there was talk of a three-storey block of apartments and we all objected to that. And that was put off. And then there was nothing until this all came out.
“My only thing about about anything being built there is my daughter is 23 and she is special needs and she goes out on the green and potters around there and she is so safe. So that would be something I would be thinking of with the area.”
Pat Pigott (98), who lives on the Main Road in Patrickswell right next to the land, says that he doesn’t think there is a huge amount of chatter around the town about the site.
Mr Pickett, who has lived locally since 1980, says he would like to see a GP surgery onsite. He also wouldn’t have an objection to a house being built there once it was a “nice, good house”.
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He added that he wasn’t “taking any notice” of all the controversy surrounding the land.
“There is nobody here talking about it. Unless they are talking about it back in Marian Park.”
Noreen Buston, who lives in nearby Lisheen Park, said she didn’t “see the need for anything going in there”. “It is very small. I would like it to stay as it is,” she said.
“I don’t know the man. Was it in all the papers? God, I didn’t hear a word.”
Meanwhile, a man in his 30s, who resides in Marian Park but declined to be named, said Niall Collins needs to answer a few questions about the matter.
“He made a prepared statement but he didn’t take questions. There needs to be a small bit more transparency on it,” he said.
“But I went to Niall Collins with a few problems I had and he helped me out. He isn’t the worst of them. But just take a few more questions on it.
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“I would have no objection to a house going in there. I am living in the park all my life and until you said that it was right here I didn’t know exactly where it was. So it was bought in 2008 and still nothing went in here? That’s unbelievable.”
A second neighbour in Marian Park, who is in his sixties, said that it was the “stuff of storms in teacups”.
“The land went on the open market and was bought. End of story. I would love a full-time doctor to go in there. I don’t know or care what all the gossip is about it.”
One woman pushing her young granddaughter along in a pram said she hadn’t heard any word of a controversy surrounding Niall Collins.
“I don’t know the man. Was it in all the papers? God, I didn’t hear a word.”
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