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Green Party welcomes
appointment of Keegan as new Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Manager,
and calls for action on negative lobbying.
The Green Party has welcomed the appointment of Owen Keegan as the
new County Manager in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. His appointment began
on 1st January last.
Local TD Ciarán Cuffe stated:
“Mr. Keegan is a bright and articulate Manager who clearly
understands the opportunities and challenges of the County. He
brings with him a wealth of experience from his ten years as an
Assistant City Manager with Dublin City Council. Hopefully he will
bring that experience to bear on the traffic and housing issues in
the County. Prior to his ten years with the City Council he was an
economist with Davy Kelleher McCarthy. Unlike some economists he
knows both the price and the value of the issues that he works
with.
“However it was disturbing to see the negative lobbying that took
place prior to his appointment. I have written to the Minister for
Justice regarding the row over the appointment of Owen Keegan as the
new County Manager of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.
“Jerry Beades a Peace Commissioner wrote on 24 November last to Dún
Laoghaire Rathdown County Councillors asking whether Mr. Keegan is
fit to hold the office of County Manager. He also alleged that Mr.
Keegan failed to take action on foot of an internal enquiry into
planning issues. Mr. Beades is a property developer and member of
the Fianna Fáil National Executive. He recently won a long-running
High Court action against Dublin City Council. That case concerned
the treatment of a planning application for the retention of an
extension to a block of apartments at Hardwicke Place in Dublin in
1994. On 30 November last the Dublin City Council Law Agent Terence
O’Keefe wrote to Mr. Beades stating that his allegations were
untrue, unfounded and defamatory.
“I feel it was improper for a Peace Commissioner to embroil Mr.
Keegan’s appointment in controversy, and I believe that the Minister
for Justice should consider removing Mr. Beades as a Peace
Commissioner. It is incorrect for someone who holds judicial office
to be lobbying councillors regarding the appointment of a local
authority official?
“I have sent on to Minister McDowell copies of the correspondence
sent to Councillors that I have received from my Green Party
Colleagues on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown. They are equally concerned at
the interference with Mr. Keegan’s appointment.
“This row also raises fundamental concerns over whether it is
appropriate for a Minister for Justice to appoint members of
political parties to be Peace Commissioners in the first instance.
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CiaranCuffe.com