OPW chief and wife stayed in Farmleigh House for Pope’s visit
THE head of the Office of Public Works and his wife stayed at the offical State guesthouse – used for foreign heads of state and dignitaries – during last week’s Papal visit, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Maurice Buckley and his wife Mary were among a number of guests from the OPW and the Department of the Taoiseach who stayed in 10 rooms in the Courtyard residence at Farmleigh House.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach said that Mr Varadkar did not stay at Farmleigh, and that no guests stayed with their staff.
The OPW manages Farmleigh, in the northwest corner of the Phoenix Park, on behalf of the State.
A spokesman for the OPW said that, with the exception of Mr Buckley’s wife, all of those who stayed at Farmleigh were working on the visit of Pope Francis.
‘OPW and Department of An Taoiseach staff who had working roles over the course of the weekend of the Papal visit [stayed].
‘It allowed me to be more productive’
‘Chairman Buckley was one of this group who stayed in the Courtyard residence, and was accompanied by his wife,’ the OPW spokesman said.
Mr Buckley, who has been chief at the OPW since late 2016, yesterday defended his wife’s stay at Farmleigh.
‘It’s quite simple really. Because of the big event in Knock and in Phoenix Park, the road access was really restricted.
‘The best way for me to be there was to be there the night before and we did that with quite a few staff and other people from the security services. It just made sense.
‘In the Farmleigh Courtyard, we have the facility there.
‘We live in Roscommon so if [my wife] wasn’t with me, she wouldn’t be able to get to any of the Papal events and she was anxious to do so and it just made it easier; there was no extra costs involved, it was just a practical thing really and I suppose I don’t have a difficulty with that.
‘It’s nice to be able to be there and know she was safe and where she was and so on,’ he said.
Mr Buckley said having his wife with him made him more productive. ‘It allowed me to be more productive rather than less productive because I could fully concentrate on the events. Fine, if I wasn’t working, we would have travelled in the ordinary way by train or by bus and would have walked in with everybody else. But I don’t have a difficulty with it.’ Six rooms were occupied by OPW staff performing duties during the Mass, including director, foreman and ‘park superintendent’ roles. Four members of the protocol section of the Taoiseach’s Department who had been working during the visit completed the guest list for the night.
The Pope did not stay in Farmleigh, instead he stayed at the more spartan surroundings of the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See not far outside the gates on the park’s other side.
Farmleigh House was formerly one of the Dublin residences of the Guinness family. The Government bought it from the 4th Earl of Iveagh in 1999 for €29.2m. The OPW spent around €23m restoring the house and it was opened to the public in 2001.
Visitors who have stayed at Farmleigh include former US president Jimmy Carter and deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.