Independent Ireland councillor hid ownership of land with planning permission – records claim he still owns it
An Independent Ireland councillor who hid his ownership of land with planning permission for six houses claims he sold the plot “a number of years ago” – even though it’s still registered in his name.
Independent Ireland general election candidate Michael Clarke got planning permission in 2022 to build six homes on the Sligo site, which he failed to declare in his ethics returns from 2021 to 2024.
Clarke, a councillor for Sligo-Leitrim-Donegal, failed to declare another two Sligo properties he owns: one in Lismacybryan, Dromard East and another in Caltragh, Toberpatrick East, according to Land Registry records. Both of these properties have judgment mortgages registered against them.
Under section 181 of the Local Government Act 2001, it is a criminal offence punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment for councillors to fail to declare property interests or directorships.
Planning permission for six homes
Michael Clarke owns land in Dromore West, county Sligo and since June 2022 has planning permission to build six residential homes on it. Planning permission applications submitted by Clarke in 2008 and 2021 confirm he owns the site.
He didn’t declare the land in any of his ethics declarations to Sligo County Council since 2021.
On granting planning permission in June 2022, Sligo County Council required any developer who begins construction of the houses to lodge a deposit of €45,000 and pay a fee of €15,184 as contribution to the cost of recreational facilities, community amenities and infrastructure.
Records also show he failed to declare two other properties, with both having judgment mortgages registered against them.
In a statement via Independent Ireland, Clarke said, "There are no undeclared properties. There is 0.7 acres in west Sligo with planning but that has been disposed of a number of years and the new owners may not have registered it." Clarke and Independent Ireland did not respond when asked when the sale took place, to whom, and for what sum.
Clarke was previously sentenced to two years in prison for his role in what a judge called a "clandestine giggery pokery" operation to defraud the Department of Agriculture. Clarke was found guilty in 2000 of conspiracy to steal a department pay order for £27,000 and handling stolen department cheques.
He was elected to Sligo County Council in 2009. In 2022 Clarke became cathaoirleach, telling fellow councillors in his acceptance speech to judge him, as African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela said, "not by my successes" but by "how many times I fell down and got back up again”.