Council took enforcement action against McVerry trust over unauthorised development

Kildare County Council took enforcement action against the Peter McVerry Trust earlier this year over work the homelessness charity carried out on a large property used as homeless accommodation and offices.

Francis Doherty, who resigned as chief executive of the charity last week, raised concerns about “huge” expenditure on the property, Kerdiffstown House in Naas, in his resignation letter.

It is understood that the charity spent a significant amount installing a lift in the building, which it has since been ordered to remove by the council as it did not have planning permission.

The trust is in the midst of a major financial and governance crisis, with serious cash-flow problems and significant debts having brought the homelessness charity to the brink of collapse in recent months.

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Kerdiffstown House, a three-storey 18th-century property, has 100 beds and is used by the charity for homeless accommodation. The property also includes offices, which have been used by executives at the charity, according to one staff member who previously worked in the building.

Records show that Kildare County Council ordered the charity to “cease all unauthorised development” at the property on June 23rd last, which included the lift installed in the building, as it had damaged the historic fabric of the house.

The council directed the trust to remove the “entire concrete lift shaft” that had been built there.

One source with knowledge of crisis talks inside the charity said the cost of installing and removing the lift could amount to a six-figure sum.

The local authority has instructed the charity to restore the building, a protected structure, to the condition it was in before the unauthorised works were carried out. This work, which must be done by year end, would include restoring “damaged vaults and brick arches” in the basement, according to correspondence from the council to the trust.

A spokeswoman for the council confirmed it had issued an enforcement notice to the charity in June over works carried out at Kerdiffstown House.

“Kildare County Council are not in a position to comment further as this is an ongoing case,” she said.

The Peter McVerry Trust did not respond to a series of questions about the enforcement action taken by the council.

In his resignation letter, Mr Doherty said he had identified a “substantial amount of concerning information and practices relating to the period prior to my appointment”, which included “huge” expenditure on Kerdiffstown House.

Neither the trust nor the previous long-time chief executive Pat Doyle responded to queries about the claims made in Mr Doherty’s letter about the Naas property.

Mr Doherty, who took over as chief executive in June, last week said he was stepping down due to tensions with the charity’s board, which he claimed had made his position “untenable”.

Daniel McLoughlin, former head of South Dublin County Council, was brought in as interim chief executive at the start of this week.

The charity is facing two parallel investigations, from the Charities Regulator and the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority. Both regulators have moved to appoint inspectors to conduct statutory investigations into financial and governance problems in the trust.