Proposals for a new national marine headquarters in Clonakilty, Co Cork, were mired in controversy yesterday. Staff at Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the fisheries board, said not one of them had applied to move from Dún Laoghaire under the decentralisation plans.
And the chairwoman of BIM rejected a Labour Party claim that she had a potential conflict of interest.
Chairwoman Rose McHugh is deputy chief executive of a company with offices in a technology park which is also housing temporary headquarters of the Department of the Marine in Clonakilty.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern opened the temporary headquarters in the West Cork Technology Park yesterday when he also announced the winning scheme for development of a purpose-built national marine headquarters.
Labour Party marine spokesman Tommy Broughan claimed meanwhile that the technology park was marketed by the SWS Group. Ms McHugh's appointment by Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey a week ago represented a serious potential conflict of interest, he said, referring to the business and property management functions and her company website.
However, speaking to The Irish Times, Ms McHugh, head of SWS Group's corporate affairs division, said her company had no beneficial interest in the park, and Mr Broughan's earlier claims about ownership were "totally without foundation". Her company was based in part of the building, but it is owned by the Fleming Group, she said.