Officials at Limerick City Council struck a deal to sell part of a public park to "facilitate" a private development nearly a year before planning permission was granted to the company behind the development.
It has also emerged that the council did not even own the land, part of the People's Park in the centre of Limerick city, which it subsequently sold to the private developer, when city officials were negotiating the sale of the site.
Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that the sale of the 0.44 acre site to Reidy Civil Engineering Ltd was only formally approved by City Hall in January this year, some 18 months after the council granted planning permission to the developer.
Construction of a 59-unit apartment complex and a mix of retail/office space was already well under way when the sale was closed.
Documents detailing correspondence between the council and the developer show that the local authority had agreed to sell part of the park for €1.57 million as far back as 2002, even though it did not own it at the time.
The correspondence, dated October 2002, refers to the confirmed sale price of €1.57 million and to discussions held to "facilitate" the development by Reidy Civil Engineering Ltd, some nine months before planning permission was granted in July 2003.
In January 2004, Limerick City Council formally completed the purchase of the site from both the People's Park Trustees and the Earl of Limerick's estate for €150,000 and later completed the sale of the same lands to the developer for €1.57 million.
However, that sale was not put out to public tender. A slightly larger piece of land owned by the council, adjoining that purchased by Reidy, raised some €2.85 million when it was sold to another developer on the open market.
Limerick City Council has said there was nothing unusual in deciding against putting the site on the open market. It said the sale price was reached on a "pro rata" basis relative to the sale of the adjoining site.
Limerick city manager Tom Mackey yesterday denied that the price agreed was less than the market value and said he was satisfied that the disposal of the land had been carried out properly. He said Reidy already owned two small plots of land on the adjacent site that was sold to another developer for €2.85 million, and this had to be taken into account in the reckoning.
Independent city councillor Jim Long, who first brought the controversy to light, said residents were angry that it appeared that a deal was done without adequate public consultation.
"I have serious concerns about this development and I have handed over a file on this matter to a number of interested parties for examination. If there is nothing to hide in relation to the development then there must be full and clear accountability," Mr Long said yesterday.
The council argues that the deal was conducted in the proper fashion and that it was only formally adopted by the council after the site was identified as far back as 1998 as one of many in the city suitable for urban renewal.