Tipperary campaigner outlines to Justice Minister why IPAS contract at landmark hotel should be scrapped

Today at 10:22
A Tipperary woman campaigning to save Dundrum House's built heritage, has written to the Justice Minister and other TDs outlining why a new contract to provide accommodation for 277 people should be terminated.
Dundrum House has been at the centre of planning controversies, and recently, a contract worth €16m-€20m was signed by the Department of Justice with a Spanish-based company called Utmasta, to provide refuge for up to 277 international protection applicants.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Irish Independent

9 hours ago

• Irish Independent

Irish staff data ruling ‘may open door' to more US tax probes, experts warn

Last month, an American judge told Dublin-headquartered Eaton, a power systems multinational, to ignore GDPR rules and hand over controversial employee-performance evaluations to the IRS following a long-running legal dispute. The IRS hopes to use the evaluations to judge how much work Irish-based staff were doing on some of its intellectual property (IP), potentially showing whether Eaton was being taxed correctly or not. Reacting to the judgment, Brendan Murphy, tax lead and partner at Baker Tilly Ireland, said some multinationals will worry that the ruling could 'open the door' for more IRS investigations into the work of Irish staff. 'Where does it stop then if the US takes that aggressive route? When does the EU step in to try and support companies by saying that we don't agree with this aggressive approach by the US, that these companies do have their transfer pricing work done and these profits do deserve to remain in that country. 'You could end up in a tax authority versus tax authority argument.' Murphy warned that US tax authorities could focus on companies that moved IP to Ireland between 2014 and 2020. He added the judgment appeared to weaken the protections provided by GDPR. 'I'm surprised that the US court was allowed to be so flippant in overruling it [GDPR] and say that they hold authority, as such. It'll be interesting to see if the EU courts have something else to hit back with on it.' With the judgment now calling on Eaton to hand over the employee- performance files, Murphy is hopeful they will bolster the argument that its Irish staff were properly supporting the IP functions and that no transfer pricing adjustment would be required. However, if the US courts find otherwise, it could lead to more US 'attacks' on transfer pricing studies. In that case, Murphy said it would be important for Ireland to defend itself. Jo Joyce, a partner at Taylor Wessing Ireland and lead on technology, IP and information, said the US judgment could create an expectation that the IRS's demands outweigh 'legitimate EU privacy concerns'. 'This case is quite specific on its facts but could be used as a wedge to open the door for broader claims and requests, giving less weight to GDPR than has historically been the case,' she said. 'US courts are aware of the controversy around sharing data with the US and have not historically been keen to disregard European privacy law in such a frustrated way as this judge seems to have done. 'There is a risk of a precedent being set and this being the first chink in the armour that leads to further and broader requests.' The case stems from an IRS audit of Eaton's 2017-2019 tax returns, which focused on whether the company improperly shifted IP to Ireland, where corporate tax rates are lower.

The Journal

a day ago

• The Journal

John Magnier advisor denies being 'kept in the loop' about Tipperary land owners' tax affairs

A SENIOR ADVISOR to bloodstock billionaire John Magnier has denied that he was 'kept in the loop' regarding the tax affairs of the owners of a large tract of land in Tipperary that his boss wanted to buy. Eddie Irwin, the financial advisor at the Coolmore Stud, which Magnier founded, rejected a description of him by counsel for Barne Estate, Martin Hayden SC, as Magnier's 'fixer' and 'right-hand man'. He said Coolmore did not use 'catchphrases or fancy titles' but agreed with counsel that he would be called to work on projects if things went 'wrong'. Irwin, who has 40 years' experience working with Magnier, was called in to aid in securing the Barne Estate deal, which the Magniers believed they had shaken hands on in August 2023 for €15m. However, the Magnier side was ultimately gazumped by Irish-born, US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan, who offered €22.25m. The case centres on Magnier's claim that Regan engaged in a 'full-frontal assault' on the claimed deal to buy the 751-acre tract and that Barne Estate reneged on the deal. The Estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust. At the High Court yesterday, Irwin said he met with the benefactor in September 2023 and contacted tax experts from KPMG after the family requested advice. A KPMG tax expert met with the Thomson-Moore family later in the month as a 'favour' to Coolmore, who were large clients of KPMG. Irwin did not attend that meeting, but allegedly sent a WhatsApp message to Magnier claiming that the Thomson-Moores were considering whether to retain the tax expert from KPMG, who was named in court. Advertisement He added that the expert had informed the Thomson-Moore family of what approach he recommended. He denied making an 'off-the-record' remark that the expert would keep him 'in the loop' in return for introducing him to the family. Irwin said that the wording of a WhatsApp message to Magnier, telling him 'off the record' about the family's intention to retain the man, was 'unfortunate' and that what he meant was for Magnier not to share the information. Irwin told counsel that the named expert was an 'innocent, decent and honourable' man, who was being 'defamed' in the court as someone who would keep him 'in the loop' on private tax matters. He said that he did have 'grave' concerns over the tax issue raised by the Thomson-Moore family at the time as it was just before the end of an exclusivity agreement and may not have been a genuine one. Irwin said he sought legal advice following the expiration of the agreement, on 23 September 2023, after he claimed that Regan had contacted Magnier's son-in-law 'angry and abusive' over the handshake deal and said he would outbid the pact by €5m. In early October 2023, with the exclusivity agreement now expired, the local estate agent involved in the sale told the Magniers that the Barne Estate had been subject to a €20m bid. The Magnier side then upped their bid to €16m with a separate, additional offering of €500,000 to establish a trust for a member of the Thomson-Moore family. Irwin said he was told by the auctioneer that the Thomson-Moore's were happy to accept the offer. But the Barne Estate solicitors never sent the contracts and the deal was never done. The Magnier side has sued the Barne Estate, Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal, which they say had been 'unequivocally' agreed. The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement, as they needed the consent of trustees to finalise any agreement, and subsequently they preferred to sell the estate to Regan, who is not a party to the case. The case continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett next month. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

• Irish Examiner

High Court hears from John Magnier's 'right hand man' in multi million Barne Estate row

A senior advisor described as a "right-hand man" to bloodstock billionaire John Magnier, who is involved in a legal battle over the purported multi-million sale of a Tipperary estate that fell through, has told the High Court he was not secretly "kept in the loop" of the tax affairs of the vendors. Financial advisor at world-famous Coolmore Stud, Eddie Irwin also rejected a description of him by counsel for Barne Estate as Mr Magnier's "fixer"and "right hand man". Mr Irwin said Coolmore did not use "catchphrases or fancy titles" but agreed with counsel that he would be called to work on projects if things went "wrong". Mr Irwin, who has 40 years' experience working with Mr Magnier, was called in to aid in securing the Barne Estate deal which the Magniers believed they had shook hands on in August 2023 for €15m. However, the Magnier side were ultimately gazumped in being the preferred buyer by Irish-born, US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan, who offered €22.25m. The case centres on Mr Magnier's claim that Mr Regan engaged in a "full-frontal assault" on Mr Magnier's claimed deal to buy the 751-acre tract and that Barne estate reneged on the deal. Barne Estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust. At the High Court on Friday, Mr Irwin said he met with Mr Thomson-Moore in early September 2023 and they contacted tax experts KPMG after the Thomson-Moore family requested tax liability advice. A KPMG tax expert met with the Thomson-Moores later in the month as a "favour" to Coolmore, who were large clients of KPMG. Mr Irwin did not attend that meeting but allegedly sent a WhatsApp message to Mr Magnier telling him "off the record" that the tax expert, who was named in court, allegedly told him that the Thomson-Moores were considering whether to retain KPMG and that the expert had informed the Thomson-Moores of what approach he recommended. Mr Irwin answering Martin Hayden, counsel for Barne Estate, denied he had an "off-the-record" report from the expert that, counsel alleged, would keep him "in the loop" in return for introducing the Thomson-Moores to KPMG. Mr Irwin said the wording of the WhatsApp message was an "aberration" and "unfortunate" and that he meant for Mr Magnier not to share information already known from previous meetings as it was a "private" and not for dissemination. Mr Irwin told Mr Hayden that the named expert was an "innocent, decent, and honourable" man, who was being "defamed" in the court as someone who would keep him "in the loop" on private tax matters. However, Mr Irwin said he did have "grave" concerns at the time that the tax issue raised by the Thomson-Moores was put forward just before the September 29, 2023, end of an exclusivity agreement and may not have been a genuine one. Mr Irwin told Mr Hayden that he was told by Mr Magnier that a week after the alleged handshake deal that his son-in-law, David Wachman, received a call from Mr Regan, who was "angry and abusive" about the purported sale. Mr Regan told Mr Wachman that he would outbid the Magnier side by €5m to prevent the deal going through, claimed Mr Irwin. After the expiration of the exclusivity agreement on September 29, 2023, Mr Irwin contacted Eugene McCague, a former partner at legal heavyweights Arthur Cox, who represent Coolmore in these proceedings, and sought legal advice should the matter be litigated. In early October 2023, with the exclusivity agreement now expired, the local estate agent involved in the sale, John Stokes, told the Magniers that the Barne Estate had been subject to a €20m bid. The Magnier side then upped their bid to €16m with a separate, additional offering of €500,000 to establish a trust for a member of the Thomson-Moore family. Mr Irwin said he was told by the auctioneer that the Thomson-Moore's were happy to accept the Magnier offer but the Barne Estate solicitors never sent the contracts and the deal was never done. The Magnier side has sued the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore, and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal, which they say had been "unequivocally" agreed. The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement, as they needed the consent of trustees to finalise any agreement and subsequently they preferred to sell the estate to Mr Regan. Mr Regan is not a party to the case. The case continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett next month.