Election candidate owes thousands to young mum he charged extra to rent his property
Mother of three Kirsty Fitzsimons says she was told to fork out extra for a 'top-up' to the agreed rent costs from Dermot McGuckin.
Names to be blurred out on pages.Kirsty Fitzsimons rent extorsion story.Pick-ups. talking to Alan Sherry in Mullingar today.Pic Gary Ashe,21/5/2025
Dermot McGuckin says the RTB hearing went ahead without his knowledge
An election candidate and landlord who called for more social and affordable housing for struggling families has refused to pay thousands he owes to a young mother after the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) found he had illegally withheld her deposit.
Dermot (Diarmuid) McGuckin (58), who is originally from Dublin but living in Fossa, Co Kerry, was ordered by the RTB to pay €3,280 to Kirsty Fitzsimons for illegally withholding her deposit for a property he rents out in Tallaght, Dublin.
As well as running as an Independent candidate in the local elections in Killarney, McGuckin has set up firms in diverse industries, including home care for the elderly, tourism, cleaning services and communications.
He is also a taxi driver and was elected chair of the Irish Taxi Federation in Killarney.
McGuckin further describes himself as a public relations consultant, and a number of years ago set up The Bellarose Foundation, which he said provided cleaning and care services to women going through chemotherapy.
Kirsty Fitzsimons with documentation for the RTB
He also organised a Great Santa Cycle in Killarney to raise funds for what he called the Bellarose Youth Development Fund.
As well as not returning his tenant's deposit, McGuckin was also getting Kirsty to secretly pay an additional €830 per month on top of the €1,950 lease agreement.
Kirsty said: 'When we contacted him about renting it, he said, 'I have someone else who is highly interested and it is between you and them. They have offered x, y and z above the lease, what can you offer'?
'I have never seen anything like it – and I've been renting since 2017,' she said.
Kirsty said she felt like she had no option but to pay the extra to secure the rental property which is in Forest Lawns in Kingswood.
News in 90 Seconds - May 30th
'I had three children and was desperate for a house for the kids and there was no alternative. He had €1,950 down as the lease agreement but was actually charging €2,780.
'When I told the HAP [Housing Assistance Payment scheme] about this they said to stop paying him extra rent. After that, he was contacting me at all times about the top-up. He was actually the most difficult landlord I ever dealt with in my life.'
When McGuckin ran in the local elections in Kerry he claimed one of his main concerns was 'more social and affordable housing' for struggling families.
Kirsty said her experience with him was 'completely different'.
Kirsty Fitzsimons tells our reporter her story
'He said he was for families and all that. If he was, he wouldn't be charging outrageous amounts of rent for young families. I think it was ridiculous. All he cared about was the money.
'I'm waiting for the deposit nearly two years. I think he thought I'm young so he'd be able to take advantage.'
In the end, Kirsty only stayed in the house for six months before leaving, but when she did leave in July 2023, McGuckin refused to give her the €2,780 security deposit back.
McGuckin has owed the money to the young mother-of-three for almost two years but had point blank refused to give it back, didn't bother turning up to the RTB hearing and has not responded to Ms Fitzsimons' calls and messages since.
Things were even more stressful for Kirsty after she received bad health news recently. 'I was going through all this with the RTB and him, and then I found out I had a BRCA1 gene for breast and ovarian cancer. I have to get a double mastectomy and an ovariectomy.'
The RTB ordered McGuckin to pay the €2,780 deposit and an additional €500 in compensation.
However, when contacted by the Sunday World, McGuckin claimed that he wasn't even aware there had been an RTB case against him.
'To have a court case [RTB hearing] without me being there is very f**king harsh. But I don't know, I'd have to see what notes I have on it and bring them up.
'To go ahead and have a hearing without me having any input whatsoever, surely there's a law against that?'
Kirsty is now facing the prospect of surgery
A spokesperson for the RTB confirmed there is indeed a law against that and rubbished McGuckin's claims that they would schedule the hearing without informing all parties.
'By law, we must give notice of a dispute hearing. We will only schedule a case for a hearing when we have contact details for all parties,' they said.
The spokesperson said the RTB contacts all parties to confirm contact details before sending them hearing notices.
As well as claiming he was unaware of the RTB case, McGuckin tried to justify not giving back the deposit and made a series of claims which Kirsty said were outright lies.
'There was a lot of reasons why she didn't get it back at the time,' McGuckin claimed.
Asked what they were, he said: 'Damage to the property and there was some stuff gone from the property that was there when she moved in.'
Asked for examples of either damage or missing items, he couldn't provide even a single one.
'Ah now, I have a list there I'd have to go through. As I said, this is the first I've heard about this,' he said.
Kirsty said McGuckin was lying about damage to the property and any missing items. 'It's complete and utter nonsense. I can't believe he said there were things missing. I've never been accused of stealing before. He can't tell you what was missing because there was nothing missing.'
She said every other landlord she has dealt with, including estate agents, have always given her glowing references.
McGuckin also claimed he hadn't heard from Kirsty since she left in July 2023.
'I'm at a loss of what to tell you. I haven't heard from her since she left. I think once maybe she got in contact after she left.'
However, Kirsty said that was another lie and she has contacted him numerous times since by phone and by email, but he has ignored all communication.
Asked if he was willing to give her back her deposit now, McGuckin said: 'I'd have to look in to that. I know it was withheld for a reason and probably multiple reasons, I wouldn't be holding onto anything you know... if everything was OK, there'd be no issue.'
Kristy said she was insulted that McGuckin would try to say she was at fault for not getting her deposit back.
'I wouldn't have gone to the RTB if what he was saying was true and wouldn't be doing an interview about it. He didn't inspect the house before we moved in. He got the previous tenant to leave a key under the mat. He also didn't inspect it when we moved out. He had no bill for any supposed damage he claimed was caused, he can't name a single thing missing,' she said.
When the Sunday World asked McGuckin why he was looking for an additional €830 in payments on top of the €1,950 lease, he initially said: 'Em, no, whatever was on the lease agreement would have been what was charged.'
However, when we pointed out Kirsty had messages showing he was in fact demanding €2,780, he said: 'I can't remember off-hand. I mean you're after getting me completely off hand on this one.'
Landlords can legitimately ask for payments on top of HAP payments if the HAP payments don't meet the rent amount, but cannot ever ask for payments on top of what is stated on the lease. The property was also in a rent pressure zone with strict limits on how much rent could be increased by from one year to the next.
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