Councillors guilty of breaking ethics code
Independent ‘was contradictory and unreliable’
TWO councillors violated codes of conduct and one gave unreliable and contradictory evidence to the Standards in Public Office Commission, the watchdog has found.
During its investigations, SIPO reviewed recordings of phone calls and meetings between Frank Durcan, who was seeking permission to build a 20-unit nursing home on his land, and Cyril Burke.
In one call, Independent councillor Mr Durcan can be heard seeking assurances from Fine Gael councillor Mr Burke that steps are being taken to obtain planning permission for his lands. Cllr Durcan would later state this was part of a plan as he was fishing for information to expose alleged corruption.
SIPO did not accept this explanation, saying the extracts from conversations and text messages did not support it.
The commission said it was its Land: Fine Gael’s Cyril Burke view that the evidence of Cllr Durcan was ‘unreliable due to the many contradictions between his original statement and in his oral evidence’.
The commission said Cllr Burke’s explanations were unsatisfactory and lacking clarity and consistency.
It said his credibility diminished further following cross-examination where he offered new and different explanations for his actions.
Both men, who both sit on Mayo County Council, were found to have failed failing to maintain proper standards of ‘integrity, conduct and concern for the public interest’, SIPO stated.
It emerged the pair withdrew a potentially embarrassing Freedom of Information request in the expectation that Cllr Durcan would be given planning permission for the nursing home in exchange.
Both men were the subject of a lengthy investigation by SIPO after concerns were raised in the county council.
Yesterday, SIPO published three reports into the investigation, which found the men were both in contravention of the Local Government Act.
In total, the commission found against Cllr Durcan in respect of two of three alleged contraventions.
The commission also found against Cllr Burke in respect of two of five alleged contraventions.
An investigation was also carried out into council chief executive Peter Hynes, but he was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.
In a statement yesterday, Mayo County Council said the SIPO reports ‘will be considered by the corporate policy group and the full council in due course’.