A senior Fianna Fáil figure in Louth succeeded in having lands rezoned by the county council that are now estimated to be worth more than €9 million.
Mr Donal Kinsella, a businessman and property developer, is chairman of the South Louth Comhairle Ceanntair of Fianna Fáil and owns 47 acres of land just off the M1 motorway near Dunleer village. Before rezoning, the lands were worth around €10,000 an acre; with industrial and commercial zoning, they are now worth up to €200,000 an acre.
The rezoning was one of two major amendments made by councillors before they passed an area development plan for Dunleer village.
Fianna Fáil controls the chair of Louth County Council, and only one of the 13 Fianna Fáil councillors at the meeting voted against the motion, which was proposed by chairman, Mr Nicky McCabe. The vote was 18 to one in favour of the amendment.
Mr Kinsella has previously applied for and been refused permission to build a retail village centre on the land at Woodland, Dunleer, but when this plan was put on public display he made a formal submission to the council asking that it zone the lands for commercial and industrial use.
The Dunleer plan has been the source of controversy for almost to two years, and at one point four county councillors retained consultants to draw up an alternative plan for the village that would have allowed for the population to grow to nearly 6,000. It is currently around 1,400. Existing planning permissions, if taken up, would see the village grow to 3,400.
At this week's council meeting, there was a heated debate before the plan was passed.
An Taisce has condemned the plan. Its spokesman, Mr Ian Lumley, said he believed "it was prejudicial to the Spatial Strategy, which clearly defines the Greater Dublin Area and recognises Dundalk as a regional gateway. This will turn Dunleer into a large car-based satellite suburb of Dublin."
Another major amendment passed by councillors was to zone 18 acres of land on the Trean Road to commercial/residential and for employment development.
At the same time, they also removed residential zoning from 12 acres on the Dundalk road.