County Councillor begins court action over corruption claims

The chairman of Bundoran Town Council today(Wed) launched a court action claiming the town’s former parking attendant defamed him.
Sean McEniff, who is also a Donegal County councillor and owner of a group of hotels, claims Patricia McCafferty wrongly accused him of being a corrupt councillor influencing planning decisions in Bundoran.
The allegations were made by Ms McCafferty in a letter dated January 5, 2009, to the planning department of Bundoran Town Council.
She applied for an adjournment at Donegal Circuit Court today, claiming she only discovered the case was listed for hearing two weeks ago and she was not prepared to proceed.
Peter Nolan, counsel for Mr McEniff, objected to an adjournment. He said Ms. McCafferty admitted to writing the letter where she alleged that Mr. McEniff was ‘a corrupt Co. Councillor’. She could have had her witnesses present and the case should proeceed.
Judge Leonie Reynolds told Ms McCafferty that she had been given adequate time to prepare for the case and she had no doctor’s certificate.
The judge added that she was going to “indulge” Ms McCafferty and grant her an adjournment to Letterkenny Circuit Court in the third week of July when the case would be first on the list for hearing.