NEWS

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IRISH WATER charged an€880,000 connection fee to thedevelopers of a new commercialbuilding in Corkwhich is expectedto provide 1,800 jobs.The fee was charged to One

Albert Quay, a €50m office devel-opment in Cork city centre, forconnection to the water andsewerage network.Irish Water declined to discuss

what it charged for One Albert

IrishWater pipes up €880,000 connection fee for developerQuay, but said that commercialconnection fees now included aportionof thedevelopmentcontri-butions that were formerly leviedby local authorities as part of theplanning process.“The charges that were applied

in this case are based on whatCork city council would havecharged as of December 31, 2013,”it said.Company sources said that

senior executives at the companyinvolvedintheproject, JohnClearyDevelopments (JCD), were

“dumbfounded” at the scale of theconnection fee.“They couldn’t believe they

were being charged €880,000 toconnect to the existing water andsewerage networks that literallyrun past their front door,” saidone source. “It’s not like therewas massive new infrastructurerequired to connect this building.”JCD did not respond to requests

for an official comment.IrishWater said that the amount

charged for new connections forhouses and commercial buildings

had not changed from what waslevied prior to the utility’s forma-tion in July 2013.“Irish Water has been applying

interim new connection chargescomprisingworks fees, infrastruc-ture fees and supplemental fees,where applicable,” it said.The new connection charges

replace the old council fee and“that portion of developmentlevies which the local authoritieswere formerly entitled to chargefor water and waste-water infra-structure”, a spokeswoman for

IrishWatersaid.The infrastructurefee was based on the floor areaof the development, which is170,000 sq ft, and was theequivalent of thewater andwaste-water component of the oldCork City Development Contribu-tion Scheme.One Albert Quay has been

called “Ireland’s smartestbuilding” by its developers,because of its supposedly sophisti-cated security systems and ener-gy-efficient technology.Tyco, a fire safety and security

multinational with 57,000 staffworldwide,hasbegun transferring700 staff in Cork from a location atMahon to the new facility.Other firms taking up space at

thecomplex includePwCaccount-ants, Investec bank, Arup con-sulting engineers, the internetsecurity firm Malwarebytes ,andArdmore Shipping Corporation.The building will accommodate1,800 staff when these employerstake up residence, but has capacityfor up to 3,000.Irish Water pointed out that a

review of all non-domestic tariffsfor water services was due to beinitiated by the regulator later thisyear. Until then, it said, the utilitywould charge customers “inaccordance with the approvedwater charges plan”.Asked how much Irish Water

wasearninginconnectionfees, thecompany referred The SundayTimes to its 2014 financial state-ment. However, this does not pro-vide a figure for connection fees orinfrastructure fees.

@sob999

Stephen O’BrienPOLITICAL EDITOR

Kerry TD snapsuphouse fromauctioneer hecampaignedagainst in 2013.ByColin Coyle

Child rapenovel is firstbookbanned since 1998

the UK and Ireland lastSeptember — six months afteritairedinAmerica—becauseoffears theChurchofScientologywould sue for libel.Wright’s Going Clear is

becoming available in Irelandafter being acquired by adifferent publisher, SilvertailBooks. It will be published onWednesday and Irish readerscan purchase it online or orderit from bookshops.HumfreyHunter, founder of

Silvertail Books, said he hadsome legal concerns butbelieved the law providedprotection for books that werein the public interest andpublished in good faith.“In my opinion the same

principles apply across theboard, thatpublication is in thepublic interest and I believeeverything in it to be true,”he said.“The law does afford pub-

lishers protection under thosecircumstances. It is an impor-tant subject because Scien-tology has a presence in allthe countries [where we arepublishing].”Defamation laws differ

A BESTSELLING book thatclaims to uncover the “innerworkings” of the Church ofScientology is to be publishedin Ireland three years after theinitial plans to release it werecancelled.Going Clear: Scientology,

Hollywood, and the Prison ofBelief by Lawrence Wright, aPulitzer prize-winning authorand journalist, was publishedin America in January 2013.Wright said he interviewedmore than 200 current andformer Scientologists as part ofhis research.The book was initially

scheduled for simultaneouspublication in America, theUK and Ireland. But Britishpublisher Transworld can-celled theUKandIrishreleasestwoweeks before publication.While an exact reason was

not given, it was thought thecancellationwasduetotheriskof legal action.GoingClearwas the inspira-

tion for Alex Gibney’s contro-versial TV documentary of thesamename. Itwasbroadcast in

Eithne Shortall

MICHAEL HEALY-RAE, theindependentKerry TD, boughta house at an Allsop auctionlast year despite previouslyprotesting at one of the UKfirm’s regular auctionsof “dis-tressed” properties in Dublin.Healy-Rae’s latest filing

with the Oireachtas register ofinterests shows he bought ahouse last year in Castleisland.Registry of Deeds docu-

ments identify the property asNo 4 Castleview, Pound Road,Co Kerry, a three-bedroom,semi-detached house. It wassold at an Allsop auction in theRDS, Dublin, on February 18,2015 for €52,500.In July 2013, Healy-Rae

protested at an Allsop auctionin the Shelbourne hotel thatwas eventually cancelled dueto opposition by politiciansand campaigners.Healy-Rae said at the time

he had decided to protest,alongside Tipperary TD MattieMcGrath and former Kerry TDTom Fleming, because peoplewere losing their homes.“Iwanted tobe there to sup-

port people whose propertieswere being sold because Ibelieve the banks engaged inbullying and did not give themthe chance to renegotiate pay-ments,” he said.The auction was called off

after scuffles between someprotesters and Allsop securitystaff, during which membersof the auction company werecalled “English scum” and“Black and Tans”.At the time Healy-Rae said

that he did not condone thosecomments but he had “no

DOMNICK WALSH

Scientology tell-all is clearfor sale in Ireland at last

Websiteofferssteroidsillegally

DANGEROUS anabolicsteroids and prescription-only erectile dysfunctiondrugs have been offered forsale on the Irishwebsitedonedeal.ie for severalweeks, The Sunday Timeshas discovered.A series of listings show

tablets and vials purportedto be anabolic steroidsincluding Clenbuterol,Anavar, Decagen andStanogen, as well as theerectile dysfunction drugCialis. It is illegal to sell anyof these drugs in Irelandwithout a prescription.After communication

with an unidentifiedmanwho listed the items on thewebsite, The Sunday Timeswas suppliedwith a bottleclaimed to contain thesteroid Oxandrolone, alsoknown as Anavar, as wellas what he claimed to be atablet of Cialis, in Dublincity centre on Friday.The seller also supplied a

price list for a wide array ofprescriptionmedicines,mostly of them anabolicand androgenic steroidspopular with bodybuilders.The list also included the

oestrogen blockerTamoxifen, used to treatbreast cancer, but ispopular with some forputting on bodymass.Themisuse of steroids

has been linked to sideeffects including decreasedlibido, low sperm count,increases in body hair formen andwomen, baldness,shrunken testicles and abuild-up in tissue aroundthe breast area formen.Inextreme casesmisuse hascan cause serious liverdamage and liver cancer.The Health Products

Regulatory Authority(HPRA) said that althoughthemisuse of steroids wasdangerous in itself, an evengreater danger in buyingfrom illegitimate sourceswas that substances werecounterfeit and containeddangerous untestedchemicals which couldcause illness and death.The HPRA, the Revenue

Commissioners and AnGarda Siochana have beenworking to combat thetrade. In June 2015, as partof the Interpol-coordinatedOperation Pangea, theagencies seizedmore than142,000 tablets andcapsules worthmore than€430,000. Anabolicsteroids accounted for12,000 units.The HPRA said: “Some

of these productsmay befalsified (includingcounterfeit) or arechemical derivatives ofexisting steroids that haveundergone little or nosafety and quality testing.The HPRAwarnsconsumers consistently ofthe health risks associatedwith taking illegallysuppliedmedicines.”Following contact from

The Sunday Times,DoneDeal immediatelyremoved the adverts. Thecompanywas contacted onFriday and asked if itmonitors or spot-checkslistings on donedeal.ie.It said: “Adverts posted

on our site are largelymonitored by thecommunity of DoneDealusers, who are encouragedto report any suspect ornon-genuine ads so thatDoneDeal can take theappropriate action toreview and remove suchads, while escalating to therelevant authorities asmaybe required.”DoneDeal said it worked

closelywith the HPRA toensure products that werenot legal for sale were notadvertised or sold throughthewebsite.

Harry Leech

between Northern Ireland andthe rest of the UK. In Britain,the claimant must prove theirreputation has been damaged.In Northern Ireland and in therepublic, there is no suchburden of proof.Hunter said he had previ-

ously published books aboutScientologyandhadfacedlegalchallenges. “I’m not losingany sleep over it, put it thatway,” he said.Going Clear began with the

storyofPaulHaggis,theOscar-winning screenwriter of CrashandMillionDollarBaby.Haggisleft the Church of Scientologyin 2009 after the organisationmade statements supportingthe banning of gay marriage.Wright interviewed Haggis forTheNewYorkermagazine,andthen expanded his project intoa book.The New York Times

described Going Clear as“essential reading”, while TheWall Street Journal called it an“utterly necessary story”. TheBoston Globe said it was“insightful” and “gripping”.

Mission tyrannical,News Review

problem advocating for peoplewho have been aggrieved bylending institutions who weresohappytogivethemmoneyinthe first place”.McGrath later told the Dail

that “Cromwell is back”, andcalled for a code of practice“for the bankers and chancerswho are creating misery forpeople”.Although a number of other

Allsop auctions were subse-quently disrupted by pro-testers,someofwhomengagedin scuffles with security andgardai, the company’s most

recentauctionsintheRDShavepassed off without incident.Allsop, which now employssecurity guards at all auctions,insists it does not sell repos-sessed family homes.Last week Healy-Rae con-

firmed he had bought theCastleisland property at auc-tion in 2015, but said he stoodover his earlier commentsabout Allsop’s auctions.“There is a big difference

between buying a house thatwas owned by an investorand buying a family home,”he said. “It’s a completely

different story. I checked outthatpropertybeforeIboughtit,and knew that no family wasgoing to be put out of theirhome if I bought it. Iwas 100%sure of that.“My concern back in 2013

was with families in Kerry,people living above their com-mercial premises, that werelosing the roofs over theirheads. This is a different ballgame entirely.”The Kerry TD received the

highest first-preference totalin the country in last month’selection. His massive surplus

helped his brother, Danny, tobe elected also.Healy-Rae claimed that the

2013 protests against Allsophad been a success. “Westopped them from sellingfamily homes, so I would do itagain,” he said.The semi-detached house

bought by Healy-Rae waspreviously for sale in 2014withan asking price of €79,000.This was later reduced to€69,500.When thehouse failed to sell

by private treaty, the ownerdecided to offer it for auction

with Allsop, a company thatspecialises in offloading largevolumes of properties, oftenunder the control of banks orreceivers.Allsop declined to comment

last week and said it could notprovide any information aboutthe identity of the property’sformer owner.Healy-Rae isnowletting the

Castleisland property. It is oneofmorethanadozenpropertieslisted by the Kilgarvan post-master and politician in hisregister of interests, includingeight houses, two apartments,

Healy-Rae forced to defendAllsop property purchase

Healy-Rae,centre, hadthe highestnumberof first-preferencevotes atthe generalelection;above left,the TDbought No 4Castleview inCastleislandfor €52,500

three parcels of farmland, aservice station with a Maceshop attached, and a storagefacility. Last year he alsobought a building in Traleethat is currently under con-struction.In 2015, Allsop sold more

than 1,500 properties in Ire-land, and had a success rateof 85%. It pointed out that notall of its sales could be charac-terised as “distressed”, withmany opting for the auctionprocess because of the com-pany’s success in selling prop-erty in recent years.

Prunty, a barrister; PhilipMoynihan, a retired garda;and Georgina Byrne, alibrarian.By the 1970s more than

12,000 books — includingnovels by Edna O’Brien,Brendan Behan, JD Salinger,Aldous Huxley, GrahamGreene, EvelynWaugh andErnest Hemingway —wereon the prohibited list.Robert Graves, the poet,

said in 1950 that Ireland had“the fiercest literarycensorship this side of theIron Curtain”.To overturn a prohibition,

an author or publisher mustappeal to the Censorship ofPublications Appeal Board, aseparate body. This board hasno members at present.

reconvened, after lyingdormant for several years, toadjudicate on a complaintabout Laura, a novelpublished by former justiceminister Alan Shatter. Theboard ruled the publicationwas not “obscene”.In the same year the board

was asked to investigate anillustrated children’s bookabout St Anthony.Under the terms of the

legislation setting up theboard, all complaints must beinvestigated, even thosesuspected of being made formischievous or vexatiousreasons.Those submitting a book

for reviewmust highlight thepassages they considerobscene or indecent. All fiveboard members read thesame copy of the booksubmitted before making anadjudication, which cancause the process to last forseveral weeks.The board is chaired by

Shane McCarthy, a Corksolicitor. Its other membersare Dr Noëlle O’Connor, atourism expert; Sinéad

A NOVEL featuring the rapeof a child has been bannedin Ireland, making it the firstbook prohibited by theCensorship of PublicationsBoard in nearly two decades,writes Colin CoyleMinutes of a meeting of the

board on March 1 show thatThe Raped Little Runaway,written by Jean Martin andpublished by StarDistributors, was banned onthe grounds of “obscenity orindecency”.Neither Martin, nor Star

Distributors, which is basedin New York and specialisesin adult content, could bereached for comment thisweekend.The last book to be banned

in Ireland was The Base Guideto London, published in 1998by a shoe company. It offered“streetwise” advice for urbanyouths about “drugs, sex,fetishism, trannies andcounterfeit goods”. Theprohibition of this book ranout in 2010.The Department of Justice,

which is responsible for theCensorship of Publications

Board, said no book had beenon the “prohibited register”on the grounds of obscenityor indecency in Ireland priorto last week’s ban.Some books remain

prohibited because theycontain informationfacilitating or advocating theprocurement of an abortion.“Books that were

prohibited on the grounds ofadvocating the procurementof abortion or miscarriageremain prohibited unless anduntil the Censorship ofPublications Appeal Boardrevokes the prohibitionorder,” the department said.“Eight books remain

prohibited on this ground,the most recent such bookbeing banned in 1985.”The Censorship of

Publications Board was oncehighly active in Ireland,banning 1,034 books in 1954,but only a handful ofpublications have beenvetted by the board inrecent years due to a sharpdecline in complaints by thepublic.In 2014 the board was

Behan: previously banned