“He’s lost his seat; he’s no longer a public representative so how do we ever make former Co. Meath Fianna Fail Councillor Tommy Reilly accountable for what SIPO(Standards in Public Office) has described as ‘reckless’ breaches of public ethics legislation”?.
That’s the question being posed by Aontú Cllr Emer Tóibín who says
“I have written to SIPO in a bid to discern what penalties, if any, can be applied to Tommy Reilly and, or indeed the party he represented for decades, namely Fianna Fail. There has to be accountability for wrongdoing, otherwise this judgement, while hugely welcome, is quite hollow”.
“It is a very serious matter; Following a very thorough investigation, SIPO found that former councillor Tommy Reilly contravened public ethics legislation, specifically concerning lands acquired by his sons, and did so ‘recklessly’. This is damming but I believe that there are many more questions to be answered”.
“In December 2020, while a relatively new elected rep, I asked Meath County Council to provide the full terms of reference for its investigation into a possible breach of the Ethical Framework for the Local Government Service by a councillor, in relation to the rezoning of lands at Liscarton, Navan.
It was not an easy position to take — raising public questions about a fellow councillor — but many constituents had approached me, deeply concerned and dissatisfied with how the process had been handled.
At that time, I was given only a one-page document which concluded there was nothing significant to investigate or uncover. Essentially, move on, nothing to see here”.
“The then Chief Executive, Jackie Maguire, and Cathaoirleach David Gilroy found that, based on the information available, no disciplinary action was warranted.
In response to my call for more detail, the then Cathaoirleach insisted the correct procedures had been followed under the Local Government Act and that any suggestion to the contrary was “wrong.”
However, SIPO’s ruling vindicates my concerns and those of my constituents.
“SIPO found that Tommy Reilly broke ethical rules by not ‘updating his register of interests’. It adjudged that three of the four alleged contraventions were indeed breached and breached ‘recklessly’.
SIPO is unequivocal in its judgement. It states in its 29-page report that as Tommy Reilly was a highly experienced and long serving councillor, he wasn’t a ‘newbie’ and he should have known better.
This makes these findings all the more serious and disappointing. At a time when public confidence in elected representatives is already at a low, this is another damaging blow — reinforcing the concerns so many people already have about former Fianna Fáil councillors and planning irregularities.
At the last local election just 47% of the electorate in the Navan LEA cast their votes. The actions of this former Councillor and others who disregard rules serves to copper fasten the suspicions people sadly have of some politicians and apathy towards them.
It also raises a crucial question: should councils investigate their own alleged breaches and those of their members, or should an independent body be involved from the outset? Does this require legislative change? Five years have passed since MCC’s inquiry — this entire issue could have been resolved, and the truth revealed, far, far sooner. The old adage rings true here, justice delayed is justice denied.
I believe that councils should not investigate alleged breaches by their own members, and I am calling for this to be looked at and changed”.
