The sale of Jessbrook Equestrian Centre built and formerly owned by convicted criminal John Gilligan has been agreed by the Criminal Assets Bureau. The centre, near Johnstownbridge on the border between Kildare and Meath, was seized by the bureau after Mr Gilligan’s drugs empire was crushed following the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996.
The estate has been the subject of a legal battle between Mr Gilligan and the State ever since but was finally put up for sale in September following the exhaustion of all legal avenues open to Mr Gilligan.
Mr Justice George Birmingham yesterday ruled in the High Court that Mr Gilligan has no entitlement to a lis pendens (lawsuit pending) notice warning any prospective purchasers of the property it is subject to a legal dispute.
Unique circumstances
In an interview with The Irish Times last night, the bureau's head, Det Chief Supt Eugene Corcoran, said the ruling paves the way for the conclusion of the sale of the centre – but the identity of the buyer and the details of the sale cannot be revealed at this time because of the unique circumstances of the deal. "The sale is going through," he said.
"Unfortunately I can't reveal details of the amounts or the people involved because it's with the parties at the moment. It's not concluded so I can't give you those details. They've asked me – and they're entitled to ask – that we not discuss the details of the purchaser or anything about them. It's a unique kind of deal so I would want to respect in every possible way their confidentiality."
Publicity
"The situation may well change after the deal is concluded. The people themselves may wish to discuss it. I don't know what way they propose to deal with the publicity that may follow but for the moment I'm really constrained insofar as they have requested we keep all aspects of the transaction confidential.
“Even in the interests of safety and all of the reasons – it’s not a normal transaction in that respect – and I certainly don’t want to put that in jeopardy in any way. It’s one of those cases where every move we make we must make it carefully and properly and ensure it’s in compliance with the High Court order.”
The next step is the conveyance of the property which will be handled by solicitors. Chief Supt Corcoran said this process could be concluded within 10-12 weeks.
After Mr Justice Birmingham’s ruling yesterday morning, Mr Gilligan attempted to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court in the afternoon – but this was rejected out of hand.
“They didn’t hear it,” said Chief Supt Corcoran. “They wouldn’t entertain an appeal.”
The judge declared Mr Gilligan's attempts to secure the lis pendens as an abuse of process. Chief Supt Corcoran said: "Certainly the outcome today is a good one insofar as we can progress things now to completion. That's what we've been trying to do from the outset and I think the court ruling gives us the freedom to conclude the sale now."
The sale was conducted by the bureau on behalf of Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin who asked the bureau to handle the sale "because of the individuals involved", according to Chief Supt Corcoran.
He said he did not believe the lengthy litigation process and the fact the property formerly belonged to Mr Gilligan affected the price the bureau secured.
“We’re in a very competitive property market. It’s probably as competitive as it’s ever been.
“At a different time it might have achieved a higher price but that’s life. You have to take the market as it is at a particular time. That’s something we’re dealing with in respect of all the properties we have for sale.
“We had a lot of interested parties. Nobody said to us ‘I would buy it, but for . . .’ People came forward as having an interest in it did so without any reference to that aspect of things.”
