It had been clear to me that the potted history of Castle Toward given to the Standards Commissioner told far from the full story. How could a potted history do so you might ask but if you truncate something, it’s all the more important to ensure its accuracy.
Knowing I would call Dr Christopher Mason as a witness if it came to a hearing, I let him see the potted history I referred to. This had to be on a confidential basis because, at that time, none of the case papers could be made public. He, of course, agreed to this but he then replied with his version of events, in the form of a witness statement, and asked that this was provided to the Standards Commissioner. I did this on, I think, 19 April this year.
As far as I can see no heed was paid to his because the potted history the commissioner had received was never altered. Nor was Dr Mason contacted. The reason this is important is because the commissioner and his staff appear to have taken everything they were told by the complainants at face value. No testing appears to have been carried out nor any triangulation to check the veracity of what had been said. Dr Mason’s testimony (that is what it was remember) cast doubt over the story the commissioner had been told and, therefore, on the reliability of those who told it. Who told it is unknown. You can make up your own mind.
Matters then went downhill because Dr Mason then recognised that the same alleged misleading narrative about Castle Toward had been given by the council to the commissioner in 2013 when Dr Mason had made a complaint against Cllr Walsh. As a result, at a later date, Dr Mason made a complaint against the commissioner for accepting what he considered to be a misleading account on 2 separate occasions. This has never been resolved because the Standards Commissioner doesn’t have a complaints procedure! Yes folks, this is indeed the case.
There is a lot of reading in the files below but for a summary, open the first document and read paragraphs 1 to 20. That sums matters up from Dr Mason’s angle. He is more than happy that his witness statement is made public. After all, it does seem to have been ignored in its entirety.
art-complaint-agst-breslin-appx-1-150416
art-complaint-agst-breslin-appx-2-150416
art-complaint-agst-breslin-appx-3-150416
art-complaint-agst-breslin-appx-4-150416
The Castle Toward/Kilmoryoply could be part of a law school learning module on abuse of process, nowhere more so than in its origins. How could it be possible to not act on fire and safety issues then close down on fire and safety issues ? Surely the command of the legal process is such at Kilmory that even they can see this is not due process? when it seems that, the public the government and everyone else excluding themselves wish to keep it open, and repair at no cost to the Council? Hendry appears to be the civil servant stooge in this whole thing , and the real instigator of the Castle Toward closure may be far more powerful as we all suspect but cant say, cough! for legal reasons…
Seems a Pandora’s box is pouring out now…standards commission need a mirror held up to them.