A former Fianna Fáil councillor and Connemara businessman has welcomed a public apology issued to him by Údarás na Gaeltachta over the handling of a tender for sale of some of its property.
The board's apology was issued to Mr Nioclas Ó Conchubhair of Leitir Móir, Co Galway, who was part of a consortium which put in a bid for a holiday village owned by the Údarás at Eanach Mheain in west Connemara. The bid of €1.45 million was accepted last February, but a row broke out when it emerged that the authority had bypassed two higher bids and ignored the advice of its own executive.
The two higher bids had been lodged by a Dublin-based consortium, offering €1.95 million, and the Irish language organisation, Gael Linn, offering €1.505 million.
The board was forced to abandon the tender entirely when the decision proved controversial, and Mr Ó Conchubhair sought an apology and said that he and his three business partners had been "vilified" unfairly.
Mr Padraig Ó hAolain,spokesman for Údarás na Gaeltachta, acknowledged the fact that Mr Ó Conchubhair's name had been "bandied about" in a most "unfortunate manner" which had put him in a very invidious position.
The authority has now accepted a bid lodged in a new tender by Mr Máirtín Ó Finneadha, a London-based businessman and native of Leitir Móir. One of the conditions of sale is that the group of 13 houses be maintained as a holiday complex for a minimum of 10 years, the board says.
The Gaeltacht authority said this week that it regrets any inconvenience caused to all the bidders who participated in the original tendering. It said the members of Mr Ó Conchubhair's consortium had abided fully by the rules of the tendering procedure.