Controversial Dartmouth Square to be sold at auction

A Georgian square in Dublin which was controversially purchased by Athlone businessman Noel O'Gara in 2005 is to be sold off at an auction in Dublin next month. Allsop Space is to sell Dartmouth Square in Ranelagh at auction on December 4, on the instruction of Friel Stafford, the liquidator of Mr O'Gara's company Marble and Granite Tiles Ltd. Mr O'Gara, a resident of Ballinahown, planned to turn Dartmouth Square into a carpark or a tile showroom after he purchased it for around €10,000 from PJ Darley, whose ancestors built the square in the 1880s. He became involved in a legal dispute with Dublin City Council, which secured a compulsory purchase order for the site in 2006. The local authority, seeking to avoid a significant financial award to Mr O'Gara, decided to let that compulsory purchase order lapse two years later. The council also went to court to seek injunctions forcing the removal of tents and caravans from the park at various stages. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent this week, Mr O'Gara said his company had ended up in liquidation as a result of a €45,000 legal bill. He said he wanted to park cars on Dartmouth Square but the barring orders which the council secured had hindered his plans. "I'm a bit p****d off about it. The council made my land worthless with their orders. When I purchased Dartmouth Square I was interested in reforming the planning laws in this country, but nobody would listen at the time because they were all making money from the system as it stood," he said. He also took issue with the auction reserve price of €140,000 for Dartmouth Square, saying this was ridiculously low. The square is zoned 'to preserve, provide and improve recreational amenity, open space and green networks'. In the 2007 general election, Mr O'Gara stood as an Independent candidate in four constituencies, with planning reform a central goal of his candidacy. He received few votes and decided not to run again in the 2011 general election.