A local development co-op is this week stepping up its campaign to persuade the State to retain a historic property seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau last month.
Officers of the Sneem Development Co-op in Co Kerry say "there is an unholy scramble" to sell Clashnacree house, seized from convicted drugs trafficker Jan Hendrik Ijpelaar.
The house and 20 acres, with an outdoor swimming pool and guest house, is to be sold by public auction on October 25th, and is expected to fetch around £1,000,000.
However, Dr Patrick Malone, secretary of the Sneem Development Co-op, says a traditional right of way, now part of the important Kerry Way walking route, has not been safeguarded by CAB and has not been pointed out to any buyers.
He wrote to the CAB legal officer and receiver, Mr Barry Galvin, asking him to safeguard the right of way. However, CAB wrote back to say there was no right of way on the map.