Former county manager ‘up to his neck’ in corruption, court told

The retired manager of Wicklow County Council, Eddie Sheehy, has been accused in the High Court of being “up to his neck” in corruption.

The accusation was made by a former authorised officer with the council, the independent environment consultant Donal O Laoire, who now works for the United Nations. Mr O Laoire accepted that some of his own actions in relation to proposals to clean up an illegal dump in west Wicklow amounted to corruption.

He said that some of what he had told gardaí, specifically that Mr Sheehy had instructed him to drop plans to set up a private company to clean up the illegal site because of a conflict of interest, was in fact a lie. Mr Sheehy had not so instructed him.

In 2001, Mr O Laoire was working as an advisor to the council, and inspected an illegal dump at Whitestown in west Wicklow. He began suggesting how it might be remediated, and devised a plan to dismantle the dump, recycling some of the waste and turning some into compost.

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The plan had the potential to deal with waste dumped illegally at half a dozen other sites in Wicklow. Whitestown is the largest illegal dump found in the State to date.

In 2002, he was hired and appointed an authorised officer of the council, and began carrying forward his plan to implementation, including setting up a privately-owned company to manage the project. The idea of a privately-owned company originated with Michael Nicholson, a director of services in Wicklow County Council, according to Mr O Laoire.

The current owner of the site, Brownfield Restoration Limited, which did not create the illegal dump but wants to make money by cleaning it up, is in dispute with the council. A multiplicity of proceedings relating to the illegal dump, both civil and criminal, have been or are before the courts.

Statutory body

In the current High Court proceedings, it has been asserted that Wicklow County Council, which is the statutory body for ensuring that waste in the country is disposed of properly, was itself the longest-standing customer of the illegal dump which had been in operation since at least the late 1970s.

Yesterday was Mr O Laoire’s second day in the witness box. He was asked by Peter Bland SC, for Brownfield Restoration Limited, whether prior to this evidence he had been “covering up” for Mr Sheehy.

Yes, he replied.

Mr Bland put it to him that Mr Sheehy was “up to his neck in this”. Mr O Laoire agreed.

Mr Bland asked if it was “wholly and utterly false” of Mr Sheehy to tell the Garda he had instructed Mr O Laoire to have nothing further to do with a plan to set up a company. Mr O Laoire agreed.

“None of this could or should happen in a properly functioning civil society,” said Mr Bland. “This is nothing short of corruption, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” replied Mr O Laoire.

“If corruption is the dishonest or fraudulent conduct of those in power,” said Mr Bland, “usually to acquire personal benefit, it was corrupt of you to use your powers as an authorised officer to seek to profit personally, wasn’t it?

Mr O Laoire agreed it was, in legal terms, but he said he was acting “under the direction of Wicklow County Council, and under the control and full knowledge of Wicklow County Council”.

Cover the matter

Repeatedly Mr Bland put it to him that the council, Mr Sheehy and Mr Nicholson were acting corruptly with regard to the plan, and corruptly in asking Mr O Laoire to cover the matter. Mr O Laoire agreed.

Mr Bland: “And again, as in Watergate, the cover-up is worse than the crime, isn’t that right?”

The truth of the situation, said Mr Bland, was that Mr O Laoire had done exactly what he was told to do by Mr Sheehy, and he was “following the line of the county manager”.

Asked if later, when questioned by gardaí, he was covering for Mr Sheehy, he replied “yes.”

Mr Bland: “This extraordinary loyalty to fall on the sword for a man [Mr Sheehy] that didn’t cover for you in response, left you hanging out to dry. He was up to his neck in this wasn’t he?”

Mr O Laoire: “Yes.”

His answer to gardaí to the effect that Mr Sheehy told him to drop the idea of a private company was “entirely false”, asked Mr Bland.

“It is,” said Mr O Laoire.

The case continues.