A FINE of €5,000 was imposed on former Killarney mayor Patrick O’Donoghue at Tralee Circuit Criminal Court yesterday for his breach of ethics legislation in 2006, surrounding an attempt to rezone part of his family’s land adjoining their hotel complex in the south Kerry town.
In concluding the long-running controversy Judge Carroll Moran said he could not impose the maximum penalty (a fine of €12,500 or two years’ imprisonment) given the extenuating circumstances in mitigation.
Among the favourable circumstances was the fact that O’Donoghue had committed the offence in the ‘‘mistaken but honest belief he wasn’t doing anything illegal.’’
Judge Moran found that he had not attempted to hide his interest in the land at any stage either, the court heard.
The charge, to which the Killarney hotelier pleaded guilty in March, stated: “Being a member of Killarney Town Council and being a person with actual knowledge of his beneficial interest in certain lands at Killarney on dates between January 1st, 2006, and March 6th, 2006, sought to influence a decision of Killarney Town Council in respect of a matter regarding the performance by that authority of its functions under the Planning Act 2000, namely the rezoning of those lands.” The lands comprised 11.3 hectares surrounding the O’Donoghues’ Gleneagle Hotel, Brehon Hotel and the National Events Centre, roughly a mile from the centre of Killarney town.
On January 17th, 2006, O’Donoghue and his engineer met with the Killarney town planner and discussed the prospect of rezoning the tract ‘‘town centre facilities’’ from its ‘‘unformulated’’ status, the court heard.
Town management were opposed to the rezoning all along and ultimately blocked it after the controversy erupted.
Insp Donal Ashe, who conducted the subsequent investigation by the Garda, agreed with prosecuting barrister Tom Rice’s suggestion that it would have been an ‘‘extremely generous designat-ion’’ had it succeeded.
O’Donoghue subsequently met with councillors to outline his plans and the authority ultimately voted in favour of the motion by a margin of five votes to two on March 6th, 2006. O’Donoghue abstained from voting or taking part in discussions on the matter at that meeting.
According to senior counsel for the defence, Shane Murphy, the controversy emerged at a time of new ethics legislation: “One could reasonably conclude that the parties [on the night of the meeting] found themselves at the frontier of a new regulatory system.”
Gardaí fully accepted his assertion that O’Donoghue was unaware of his wrongdoing at the time.
Included among three character testimonials submitted to the court was a letter from Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue.
Mr Murphy apologised to the ‘‘court and community’’ on behalf of his client for ‘‘the rash and erroneous manner in which he acted.’’