Alan Holland has emerged as the sole director of the mysterious Jackson Way firm, but it is likely that someone else enjoys real ownership of the land, writes Paul Cullen
Mr Alan George Holland is only the latest in a line of figures to be linked to the ownership of Jackson Way Properties, the controversial firm at the centre of bribery allegations under investigation by the Flood tribunal.
Mr Holland is a 47-year-old British surveyor and property agent based in Birmingham who has few obvious links with Ireland and little knowledge of the land owned by the company at Carrickmines in south County Dublin.
He is, therefore, an unlikely figure to have had the good fortune to acquire land that happens to lie right in the middle of a proposed motorway, in an upmarket area most Irish property developers would give their right arm to own.
The only rational conclusion one can draw is that someone else lies behind Mr Holland and enjoys real ownership of the land.
What is indisputable is that Mr Holland is named in legal documents as the sole director and shareholder of the company. The secretary has an address at Jackson Way in Birmingham, which explains the origins of the company's name.
Jackson Way is in danger of being struck off the list of companies in the UK and dissolved, having been warned by the registrar of companies earlier this month. It has three months to show why it should not be struck off.
The last accounts were filed by the company in April 2002, and a new set of accounts should have been filed last February. According to information from the UK companies office, there are no charges or mortgages registered against the company.
The most recent accounts available, for the year ended April 30th, 2002, show that Mr Holland holds two £1 ordinary shares in the company. The profit and loss account reveals only tiny amounts passing through the company's books; the loss for the year is recorded as £1,113.
The only asset identified are debtors and amount to £101,932. There is no mention of any land holding in Ireland or elsewhere.
The accounts show that Jackson Way regularly pays "management charges" to Fishers, an estate agency also owned by Mr Holland.
The balance owed by Jackson Way to Fishers in April 2000 was £93,367.
Mr Holland is a director of at least three other property companies, as well as being the sole owner of Fishers.
According to its website, Fishers is "one of the most respected independent property letting and management specialists in the Midlands".
Founded in 1913 it currently manages over 800 properties for "a wide range of clients".
Mr Holland, who says he owns no other property in Ireland, has been a director of Jackson Way since 1993. The company was formerly called Arriveclever Ltd, but changed its way to Jackson Way in April 1993. Another director, Mr Radovan Vuckovic, resigned in April 1995.
We know already that the amusement arcade owner and businessman, Mr Jim Kennedy, bought the Carrickmines lands in 1988 for just €685,000.
Ownership then passed into the hands of an offshore company, Paisley Park Investments, to which Mr Kennedy and a number of other investors have been linked.
Now we have learned of the existence, if only briefly, of Arriveclever and its mutation into Jackson Way.
We also know that the solicitor Mr John Caldwell has told the Flood tribunal that the land was held "to my order".
And now, finally, we have learned of Mr Holland's involvement. So how many more layers must be peeled off before the heart of this mystery is revealed?