FOLLOWING the establishment of Coillte Teo, hundreds of thousands of acres were transferred to the forestry body by the Department of Energy. However, the 147 acre site near Blessington was retained by the Department because of the substantial sand and gravel reserves and the presence of a "possible Viking ring fort".
In 1988, the Geological Survey of Ireland was commissioned to carry out a valuation of the land prior to its sale. Mr John Barnett, of Minerals and Environmental Sciences Consultants Ltd, priced the land at £1.26 million with planning permission, and £821,000 without. His assessment was based on net reserves of 6.744 million tonnes to be extracted from 83 acres.
When contacted by The Irish Times, Mr Barnett said he had provided consultations on behalf of CRH prior to his survey through the Drogheda based company, Premier Periclase, but said he had worked for many companies in the trade.
Commenting on the difficulty of gaining access to the land, he confirmed that he had identified at least one alternative route, other than via Roadstone's land, for vehicular access.
In June 1989, Mr Kiaran O'Malley Ltd, civil engineering and town planning consultants, surveyed the land for the Department of Energy and advised on its disposal.
On April 30th, 1990, he recommended in a report to the Department that the land be put out to public tender. "Roadstone have shown an interest already and there may be others, with or without (planning) permission," he said. However, in October he advised that it was unlikely that any other company would match Roadstone's offer.
Mr O'Malley said last week he also carried out work for Roadstone before his survey of Glen Ding in 1989, although he stressed that it represented only 1 per cent of his work.
An approach to purchase the land had been made to the Department of Energy before Mr O'Malley began his survey. On April 10th, 1989, Mr Brendan Johnston wrote to Mr Tom Smart in the Department of Energy, proposing a joint venture with the Department for quarrying at Glen Ding Wood.
This could be on the basis of "a lump sum agreement up front, plus an index linked royalty or outright purchase, whichever your Department would prefer".
Mr Johnston continued his approaches to the Department and on December 10th, 1990, he submitted a bank draft for £80 000 as a deposit, representing 10 per cent of his unconditional bid. The draft was made out to the Department of Energy - Forestry Service, and was accepted.
A meeting between Mr Johnston and Department officials was arranged for December 13th, but when Mr Johnston telephoned to confirm the day before, an official told him that a decision had been taken by the Minister the previous afternoon to sell the land. Following complaints from Mr Johnston, the meeting with officials vias rearranged.
On December 17th, Mr Sean Fitzgerald, assistant secretary at the Department, informed Mr Johnston's solicitors in a letter that the Minister was considering his offer and that no decision had yet been made on the sale. However, in a further letter three days later Mr Johnston's solicitors were told: "Your client's unconditional offer has been considered and was not successful." It concluded: "I make no comment on your conditional offer." The bank draft was returned.
Mr Johnston had made a conditional bid of £1,150,000 but this was never discussed as he was told that only unconditional offers would be considered.
Mr Johnston's solicitors replied on December 21st, demanding a full explanation of the matter, in particular as to when Mr Molloy had approved the decision.
It stated: "On the morning of the 13th, our client was informed that a meeting would be arranged to facilitate him in making an offer to purchase the lands. Our client is not now aware whether the Minister had in fact decided to sell the land on the afternoon of the 11th, as he was informed on the 12th, or not."
Confirmation of the sale was then sent to Mr Johnston's solicitors by the Chief State Solicitor's Office. "This was a sale by private treaty and your client is not entitled to any explanation other than that his offer was not successful," it said.