Fianna Fáil Dublin Central byelection candidate councillor John Stephens lied on a planning application for a second house – and today lied about lying on the application.
Asked why he falsely claimed in a planning application form his Dublin home was up for sale to secure permission for a second house in Galway, Stephens said, “I didn’t put anything like that.”
Though Stephens, in the application for his second home, referred to "alternative employment" in Galway, months later he started a new job in Dublin city centre.
‘I am selling my present house in Dublin’
The Ditch was forced to threaten legal proceedings against Galway County Council after the council initially refused to release documents Fianna Fáil’s John Stephens submitted as part of a planning application for a second home.
Dublin’s Deputy Lord Mayor and Fianna Fáil’s candidate in the upcoming Dublin Central byelection made the application in June 2000.
Stephens was looking for permission to build a four-bedroom home on land outside Kinvara.
He bought the land from his uncle weeks earlier but claimed in his application he was a “prospective owner”.
Stephens was required to submit a housing needs form as part of the application.
The Ditch requested a copy of the form, which was restricted from public access, but a senior council official said it couldn’t release the document because of GDPR concerns. The council reversed its position and released the document after solicitors acting for The Ditch threatened to bring judicial review proceedings.
“Proud son of Dublin Central” Stephens claimed in the form his Dublin house “was for sale”.
Though he’s lived in the same Dublin 7 house he bought in 1993, Stephens told Galway County Council, “I am selling my present house in Dublin,” adding, “I am assured of alternative employment in Galway.”
Galway County Council granted permission for the detached house in October 2000 and three months later Stephens started a new job at the Mater Hospital in Dublin.
Stephens declared the 1,700 square foot property as “farmland” in his Dublin City Council ethics declaration in 2024.
