Demolition order on estate
Wicklow council orders owners to knock down 65 houses in Kippure Manor to be used to house refugees
WICKLOW County Council has ordered the owners of an allegedly unauthorised refugee village in County Wicklow to demolish up to 65 houses – 50 more homes than previously exposed by the Irish Mail on Sunday.
The houses were built on the grounds of Kippure Manor Estate in Blessington without any apparent planning permission.
Wicklow County Council has now taken legal action to ensure that the scenic property, which is close to a protected environmental area, is restored to its original condition.
The local authority issued an enforcement notice on May 10 warning the owners they must stop building work within five days. It also ordered the demolition of 65 houses.
Last month, the MoS revealed how a refugee village had been built on the site despite two warning letters being issued by Wicklow County Council about alleged planning breaches. The first of these warnings was issued in June 2022, just four months after Russia invaded Ukraine and thousands of refugees from that country arrived in Ireland.
Kippure Manor Estate is owned by a Dublin-based company called Tondo Limited, whose directors are listed as Eoghan Coughlan, 39, and 63-year-old Joe Christle. Both men are also involved in an investment firm called Quanta Capital, which has €1bn in assets.
And when questioned by the MoS last month about when work began on the site, the company refused to comment. It also refused to answer any questions about any ongoing building.
The planning controversy dates back to 2018 when Wicklow County Council first granted planning permission to replace a 343.5 squaremetre building damaged by a fire with a larger, 528.9 square-metre structure.
But the estate subsequently changed ownership and by June 2022 four additional structures had been built without planning permission, according to the council.
These included a chapel-like building, a gate lodge and a stone-clad pedestrian bridge.
But instead of halting work on the site, construction continued and almost two years later the site has been transformed.
By the time the council sent a second warning letter in January, no fewer than 20 unauthorised structures had been built. These include 14 two-storey split-level houses, a large concrete retaining wall, and a wood-clad communal canteen.
But the enforcement notice issued last week by the council revealed that, since its second warning letter about alleged planning breaches was issued in January, 51 extra homes have been built without any apparent planning permission. The council has now ordered that these be demolished within the next four months and that the foundations also be dismantled.
The council has also demanded that the terrace of 14 split-level homes be vacated and that the terrace be dismantled. It also warned the owners of the Wicklow property that if it fails to abide by these orders the local authority will demolish the buildings itself and pass the costs of the demolition on to the owners.
While Kippure Manor is owned by Tondo Limited, the property has been leased to another company called Seefin Events Unlimited, which lists the estate as its address. The directors of Seefin Events Unlimited are Carol Dwyer, 56, and Sinéad Fennelly.
Seefin Events was paid €10,444,565 by the Department of Integration to provide accommodation for asylum seekers last year – placing it in the top 30 accommodation providers in 2023.
Ms Fennelly, 38, is listed as the company’s sole shareholder.
However, she and Ms Dwyer are directors of several other companies that received more than a combined €33m from State accommodation contracts last year. These firms include Edgewell Unlimited Company, which was incorporated in Ireland 14 months ago but is entirely owned by Bergvon LP Inc, which is registered in the Isle of Man, a tax haven.
It is listed as the sole shareholder for three of Ms Fennelly and Ms Dwyer’s companies that were paid €22,721,850 by the Integration department last year. These include Gateway Integration Unlimited Company (€16,830,000), Airways Centre Unlimited Company (€5,474,000) and Arturo Ventures Unlimited Company (€417,850), which received its first payment last November.
Gateway was among the top 15 accommodation providers in 2023.
It is understood that a substantive response is being prepared by the owners of the property to be delivered to Wicklow County Council in the coming days.
It is believed that they will attempt to claim that some of the buildings were already in existence and that, under a statutory instrument passed last year, they do not require planning permission to house refugees.
However, in a diagram dating the buildings on the Kippure Manor website, one development predates the statutory instrument signed into law by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien in July last year and another refers to a ‘renovation/ rebuild’ in 2023/2024.
Rebuilding a structure would not appear to be covered by the statutory instrument.
Local county councillor Gerry O’Neill has described the development as a planning scandal.
He said: ‘You know, to see a beautiful part of the county – a town being built there without any planning. I mean, the people of the area have been in shock.
‘It has been very frustrating. As I pointed out at Monday’s meeting [Wicklow County Council] it’s probably one of the greatest planning scandals to hit the county in a long, long time.’
Fine Gael local election candi
‘One of the greatest planning scandals to hit the county’
‘This is industrial-scale breaching if proven’
date Peter Stapleton said: ‘Following my petition to the Minister for Enterprise to appoint an inspector to investigate the issues, I welcome the enforcement proceedings now being taken by Wicklow County Council.
‘I outlined to the minister how an inspector may be required given the complex web of companies involved in this and to determine the level of unauthorised development on-site.
‘It now seems that a staggering 65 unauthorised structures are being examined. This is industrial-scale breaching if proven.’
A spokesman for Kippure Lodge and Holiday Village told the MoS: ‘Management at Kippure Lodge and Holiday Village are involved in ongoing consultation with Wicklow County Council in relation to planning matters at the property.
‘An enforcement notice has been received from the council and management are in the process of examining the notice and replying to it. As this process is ongoing, it is not possible to provide further comment.
‘Kippure Lodge and Holiday Village is operated by Seefin Events and the company has invested significantly in renovating facilities on the site to the highest standards.
‘It is envisaged that in time the site will operate as a tourist attraction given its fantastic location and wonderful access to Wicklow Mountains National Park.
‘At present, the facilities are being used to house International Protection applicants at a time when there is increasing pressure on the country to provide emergency accommodation given the high numbers of people seeking refuge, including those who had to leave
Ukraine. Seefin Events is a proud supporter of west Wicklow and supports the employment of 350 people directly and indirectly, many of whom live in the area.
‘Seefin Events is continuing to engage with Wicklow County Council in relation to planning matters involving the property and is confident that all matters will be either resolved or clarified.’
A spokesman for the Department of Integration told the MoS: ‘Kippure Holiday Camp has been contracted by the International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) since 2022 and is currently contracted to accommodate up to 447 International Protection (IP) applicants. With all new properties contracted by the department to provide accommodation for IP applicants, the local authority has a regulatory role in verifying that properties meet the required building, planning and fire safety regulations. Once all documentation is received, the department continues to engage with the appropriate fire certification authorities to ensure fire certification is up to date and once evidence of sign-off is received from the relevant authorities and provided to the department, a contract is signed for the use of the property.
‘The department is aware of claims regarding unauthorised buildings and understands that the construction work which is the subject of media attention is separate to that in which the IP applicants are already accommodated. The provider advised the department that Wicklow County Council has attended on site and a team of engineers continues to engage constructively with the local authority.’
A spokeswoman for Wicklow County Council told the MoS: ‘This is a live enforcement case and we have no further comment to make.’
‘Seefin Events is a proud supporter of Wicklow’