Cllr John O’Donnell as he appeared join the RTE Investigates programme.
DONEGAL County Councillors were one-time directors of a company which a State body says failed to repay grant aid when the company went into liquidation, the body has said.
In a press statement issued last night in response to a number of online claims, Údarás Na Gaeltachta – the body which helps create jobs in gaeltacht areas – named the company concerned.
Dúncrua Teoranta was founded in 2006 by Cllr John O’Donnell and Cllr Michael McBride and was a metal ore selling business.
The company operated until 2009. However Cllr McBride, who was company secretary, left the company in February 2008, a year before it went bust. It’s understood he has no liability in the matter.
However Cllr O’Donnell – at the centre of a recent alleged cash-for-favours scandal exposed by RTE Investigates – never responded to efforts by Udarás to repay grant aid monies.
While grants of €122,300 were approved, the company actually received just over half of that, €66,850.
“Údarás na Gaeltachta paid a total sum €66,850 in grant aid to Dúncrua Teoranta from 2007 to 2008, with the last payment made on the 31/12/2008,” said a spokeswoman for Údarás.
“Our employment figures show that Dúncrua Teoranta employed 12 people in 2007, 10 in 2008 and 1 in 2009.
“The company went into liquidation in 2009 and Údarás subsequently sought revocation of grants paid. Despite our efforts, Údarás was unsuccessful and repayment has not been received to date.”
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