Gilmore wife got €525,000 for school site now worth just €100,000

[Complainer]

I don't care if she's the Pope's wife, my problem is this:

The State paying 525k for 3 acres or less for a school while children are taught in cramped old room, or prefabs.

I want edu exp to go on education, not to landowners.

So you want the consitutional right to property to be ignored when the state is building a school - right?

 

[Sunny]

Has Gilmore ever said anything to indicate that anyone should not be allowed to buy and sell land at market rates?

He has said plenty about FF policies leading to inflated land prices to benefit people who visited the so called Galway tent. Joan burton has also been vocal against people who profited from land deals especially at the expense of the state.

 

[Sunny]

I don't think there was anything dodgy with the deals but the optics suck. Worse than the cabinet arriving to the meeting in their mercs. All we are seeing politicians of all parties is the usual two faced crap. They say one thing but then act in another. Just getting tired of the hyprocrisy.

 

[Shawady]

Just getting tired of the hyprocrisy.

So who are you going to vote for in next election?
Just talking to some of my colleagues today about this and there seems to be an air of resignation that there is no difference between the big parties.

 

[Protocol]

So you want the consitutional right to property to be ignored when the state is building a school - right?

No, my problem is with excessively high land prices all over Irl.

These feed into higher costs for everything.

Those who benefit are landowners, while the general good suffers.

I have a lot of sympathy with farmers (prices, incomes, etc) but when I read about the NRA paying them millions for land for new roads, I despair.

So my problem is with zoning, planning, etc.

Could we have CPO'd the land for the school at 15k per acre, and put the balance of the 525k into facilities, labs, computers, etc.??

The landowner gets paid above agri price, plus society gains??

 

[DerKaiser]

Has Gilmore ever said anything to indicate that anyone should not be allowed to buy and sell land at market rates?

I heard another comment about the deal today that it was an inheritance, it wasn't speculation or anything.

I just thought, would it be wrong if it was speculation?

Obviously the woman has done nothing wrong. But if she'd bought the few acres for €50k 10 years ago and sold them for €500k would that have been wrong?

I don't think so either, just buying and selling at the market value as you point out.

I just don't like that Gilmore said it was not his, it was his wife's.

I don't like how others are saying it was OK because it was an inheritance rather than speculation.

Do people know even what's right and wrong?

We've had a lot of dodgy dealings involving bribes for rezoning. We need to separate that in our minds from people actually making an honest profit from property.

This gets me to the main point. Many people think that the profit Gilmore's wife made was wrong precisely because Gilmore, Burton, et al have been very loose in their condemnation of the culprits of the bust.

Bankers, Developers, politicians and property developers have universally all gotten a bad rap.

What we are forgetting is that it's the corrupt and inept that have caused the problems. Development activity and banking are not evil but necessary.

But how often do we hear labour soundbites about speculators, developers and bankers when what they should be focussing on is corruption and stupidity rather than legitimate undertakings.

 

[Complainer]

Could we have CPO'd the land for the school at 15k per acre, and put the balance of the 525k into facilities, labs, computers, etc.??

Based on http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c...our-home/compulsory_purchase_and_compensation, CPO's apply to road/rail projects, so I assume it doesn't apply to schools, or Dept Ed would be very happy to proceed.

If it had happened, can't you just picture the SIndo story, something like;

"Dept Education pays Gilmore's wife more than agricultural value for field".

 

[Complainer]

This gets me to the main point. Many people think that the profit Gilmore's wife made was wrong precisely because Gilmore, Burton, et al have been very loose in their condemnation of the culprits of the bust.

Bankers, Developers, politicians and property developers have universally all gotten a bad rap.

What we are forgetting is that it's the corrupt and inept that have caused the problems. Development activity and banking are not evil but necessary.

But how often do we hear labour soundbites about speculators, developers and bankers when what they should be focussing on is corruption and stupidity rather than legitimate undertakings.

In fairness, I think the 'labour soundbites' ahve been focused on corruption and stupidity. Read Matt Cooper's "Who Really Runs Ireland" to see how cronyism and corruption was a key fundamental feature of the property/banking scandals of the last decade.

I don't think that Labour has attacked honest businesses and developers.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

As you seem to be unable to discuss this issue without putting my home at risk through defamatory comments, I am closing this thread.

Brendan