The Government's target to build 300 affordable houses on land relinquished by Clonakilty Agricultural College in west Cork will not be met, Cork County Council has decided.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, offered the Clonakilty lands following the Taoiseach's order to Ministers last year to free up State land.
The 300-plus acres operated by the college were donated in 1898 by a wealthy landowner on condition that they were used for education, charitable and religious aims.
However, the Department of Agriculture has guaranteed the local authority in writing that the lands are free of title encumbrances.
The Clonakilty college, which has benefited from major investment during Mr Walsh's time in office, is one of five controlled by Teagasc.
The Department itself holds title to 40 acres at each of the colleges, and this land has been used for crop trials and other projects over the decades.
The Department originally offered its own lands at Darrara to the local authority, but they were quickly deemed unsuitable by the council and by the Teagasc board.
"It would have brought houses right up to the back of the college," said a Teagasc board member, Mr Ruairdhi Deasy, of the Irish Farmers' Association.
In particular, it was decided, with no disagreement between the parties, that the first site would be too close to farmyard piggeries, etc.
The Department-owned lands were then exchanged for another 37 acres elsewhere on college land near the Catholic church at Darrara. However, the decision is proving increasingly controversial with local residents, who have already protested by letter to the Minister for Agriculture.
In the residents' group letter, the Minister was told that the plan was "a recipe" for failure because of poor infrastructure and lack of amenities.
"Darrara College is the equivalent of the Phoenix Park to Clonakilty, and its development should be encouraged in every manner from this perspective," the residents argue.
Accepting that services are lacking bar water, local authority official Mr Jerome O'Sullivan said: "There is no question of 300 houses, but the number has not been set."
Local authority officials, who spoke to The Irish Times on condition of anonymity, were scathing about the plan, arguing instead for more development closer to Clonakilty.
The final arrangements for the land transfer were taken at a Teagasc board meeting on May 5th, though development plans are months away.
"Teagasc did not have a choice in this. We are implementing the Government's policy," a Teagasc spokesman told The Irish Times.
Mr Walsh is believed to favour opening up lands at each of the other colleges, but The Irish Times could not get the Department to take questions on the issue.
"The Minister wanted to act quickly to respond to the Taoiseach. He can move on Darrara quickly, so that is why this one is going first," said a source.
The proposed housing site, which will have considerable roadside frontage, will surround the Darrara church and two neighbouring graveyards.
Accepting the Department of Agriculture's assurances about the land's title, Mr O'Sullivan said: "We are not surprised about this because we got land from the college in the past for one of the graveyards by the church."
The Darrara land was bequeathed to Rt Rev John O'Leary, parish priest of Clonakilty and "his successors" in 1898.
The Darrara Residents' Interest Group said "local opinion" strongly believed that "the will and wishes of this well-meaning individual" are not being met by the proposal.
Under the Government's decision, 690 homes would be built on the Clonakilty lands, Department of Defence-owned lands on Cork City's Youghal Road and another State-owned property at Model Farm Road in the city.
