The deal to allow the building of a new prison in north Co Dublin should be stopped, writes Teresa McDonnell
What happens when an ordinary citizen knows that the Government is about to waste €24 million of taxpayers' money, the Government will not listen and the deal goes ahead?
Wednesday, January 26th, 2005, is etched on the memories of the people of Rolestown and St Margaret's in north Co Dublin. That was the day Minister for Justice Michael McDowell announced that the Government had approved the purchase of a 150-acre site at Thornton Hall as the location for a new prison complex to replace Mountjoy.
We were shocked and astonished. Two key questions kept cropping up: "Do they know what they have bought?" and "How could they get it so wrong?"
Thornton Hall is not just a plot of land, a greenfield site. This is a working farm surrounded by other farms, in the heart of a small, close-knit rural community. Many families have lived here for more than 10 generations.
How will this development affect our area? There is no mains sewerage, road access is via a small country road, there is no public lighting or footpaths and public transport is more than a mile away. Are we to endure at least five years of intensive building work as the Government tries to make up for deficiencies that should have ruled this site out in the first place?
Whose homes or farms will be subject to compulsory purchase orders to provide infrastructure to this badly located development?
At this time of year tractors fill up our rural roads as farmers go about their daily business. How long can they continue to farm around such a vast development? How can a rural farming community survive this?
Will our small three-teacher school be on the driveway to the largest prison campus in Ireland? Mr McDowell's comment, "We'll build them a new school", has caused great hurt. Our school is not just a building. Fourteen years ago our community came together to keep our school from closing. Last year, when the Government failed to provide a badly needed classroom, the community came together and raised the funds themselves.
The school stands as a testament to the vibrancy and resilience of this small community. A development of this size cannot be hidden away quietly in a rural setting. It will change everything.
Exactly how? We can only begin to imagine. We have seen communities live with the legacy of bad planning, lack of foresight and careless disregard for conservation. We thought we lived in a more enlightened era. This is not progress. This is State-sponsored vandalism.
So how could they get it so wrong? Now six months later, thanks to Freedom of Information and a little research, we know how. In June 2004 Mr McDowell decided to establish an "expert group" to examine the sites that had been submitted to the Irish Prison Service for consideration as possible sites for the relocation of Mountjoy.
This "expert group" agreed on criteria for evaluating each of the 31 sites to establish which was the most suitable.
These criteria included access to the site; accessibility to public transport and road networks; availability of services - sewerage, water, gas and electricity; availability of emergency services; community impact, planning and zoning.
By mid-November one site had been identified as the most suitable, and negotiations began to purchase this site. However, in mid-December these ended.
Thornton Hall was introduced to the Irish Prison Service almost 10 months after the advertised deadline for expressions of interest.
Over the Christmas period this site was formally submitted, preliminary engineering study completed, preliminary planning and technical study completed, price negotiated, and terms agreed.
At a meeting of the "expert group", on January 18th, 2005, Thornton Hall was officially introduced to the group, evaluated by them and selected all in one meeting.
The fact that the original site was still available; that Thornton Hall does not meet any of the above-mentioned selection criteria; that Thornton Hall was being bought for more than six times its realistic market value; that no in-depth engineering study had been completed, appear to have been of no importance.
Furthermore, as no Environmental Impact Study was undertaken, the unique archaeological and heritage significance of this area and this site in particular was completely overlooked. Yet the deal goes ahead.
The first mistake was in selecting Thornton Hall, the second was signing a contract for €29.9 million, and the third is not listening. The fourth, which is still avoidable but now almost inevitable, will be the biggest of all.
If Mr McDowell insists on closing the deal for Thornton Hall in October the State will have acquired an asset with negative equity of up to €24 million.
This 150-acre farm is being purchased for €29.9 million when the realistic market value on a good day is around €6 million.
This will not be the first time the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has got it wrong. In June of this year the Public Accounts Committee released a report in which it states: "Some €19 million, plus the cost of security, was spent on the provision of accommodation for asylum-seekers in the five cases under consideration, but not one person has been accommodated. A sum of €6.2 million is not recoverable."
It is clear from this report that the following avoidable mistakes were made: "The constitutional rights of the citizens were ignored. There was little or no communication with the local community. There was no understanding of what went on in the local community and as a result the local community felt abandoned by the State."
A complaint has been made to the European Commission regarding this development's exemption from normal planning procedures, and the complaint has been registered. A High Court challenge has been taken, and leave secured to pursue a judicial review of the Minister's decision. Yet the deal goes ahead.
There is still time to call a halt. There is still an opportunity for the Government to avoid wasting even more taxpayers' money. We urge the Government to stop it now.
Teresa McDonnell is a spokes-woman for Rolestown/St Margaret's Action Group