Ex-Docklands boss held stake in riverside site
Group approved planning for €70m development
Sunday June 21 2009
FORMER Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) boss and Anglo Irish Bank director Lar Bradshaw had a stake in a €70m car park and office scheme constructed in the docklands while he was in charge of the €10bn development of the area.
Documents obtained by the Sunday Independent reveal that Mr Bradshaw was a shareholder in the Liffey Partnership, which was behind the construction of the Commons Street multi-storey car park and the Depfa Headquarters in the IFSC. It has also emerged that the DDDA approved major changes in the scheme enabling a major office complex to be added on top of the multi-storey car park.
Bradshaw stepped down as chairman of the DDDA in 2007, after 10 years as chairman, which saw the area transformed by billions of euro of new development and construction.
His term in office has come under increased scrutiny in recent months, with concerns raised over the DDDA's involvement with Anglo Irish Bank, which financed much of the development of the area. Mr Bradshaw served as a non-executive director of Anglo, while Anglo's Sean FitzPatrick sat on the board of the DDDA. Mr Bradshaw quit the Anglo Anglo last year in the wake of the FitzPatrick loans scandal.
Mr Bradshaw was joined in the development of the IFSC site by some wealthy investors. The Liffey Partnership also included Derek Quinlan, property developer David Arnold, hotelier Francis Brennan and the McCormack family. Documents show that the deeds to the land were transferred from the Custom House Development Authority to Mr Bradshaw and the Liffey Partnership on April 30, 1997, the day before before Mr Bradshaw was appointed chairman of the DDDA, which was established to replace the Customs House Development Authority.
Derek Quinlan is listed as holding about 30 per cent of the shares in the Liffey Partnership, with Mr Bradshaw owning around four per cent of the shares, according to Land Registry filings in June 1998. Anglo and ACC held charges on the site. These have since been replaced by BoI.
The Liffey Partnership flipped part of its site to another group called the Place Partnership on the May 14, 1997. Members of this other partnership included Finn O'Sullivan, who sold Irish Express Cargo for about €80m, well-known barristers and corporate lawyers, as well as senior IFSC bank executives.
"Lar became a small stakeholder in the car park development in 1996, a year before he was requested to be chairman," a spokeswoman for the DDDA said. "He informed Ruairi Quinn and then minister [Brendan] Howlin that he had a stake in the development and they agreed with him that he would declare it as a conflict of interest. On his first day as chairman Lar declared his interest and it was minuted. He absented himself from all planning decisions and discussions.
"It is reported in the minutes of the executive board meetings where Mr Bradshaw absented himself from meetings in relation to this development," according to the DDDA spokeswoman. "It is the opinion of the Docklands Authority that Mr Bradshaw acted in an appropriate manner at all times."
Attempts to contact Mr Bradshaw were unsuccessful.
- Nick Webb Exclusive
