Noel C. DugganThomas Duggan

Direct Provision contractors

Noel Cornelius Duggan, the man who brought the Eurovision to North Cork, and his son Thomas Duggan are Direct Provision contractors based in Millstreet, Co. Cork. In the 15 years that Direct Provision has existed, the Duggans have received over €65,000,000 in contracts from the Department of Justice to run eight different centres.

The centres owned by the Duggans are/were:

• In Waterford City:
  Viking House (operated as a Direct Provision centre 2001 — present)
• In Killarney, Co. Kerry:
  Park Place Hotel (2000–2004) and
  Linden House (2005 — 2011)
• In Tipperary:
  Bridgewater House, Carrick-on-Suir (2003 — present) and
  Vee Valley Hotel, Clogheen (2000–2005)
• In Cork:
  Island View House on Morrison’s Quay in Cork City (2000–2002),
  73–75 Davis Street, Mallow (2004 — 2010) and
  Drishane Castle near Millstreet (2000 — present)

(In addition to the above, Thomas Duggan was also involved with the running of Birchwood House in Waterford in the early 2000's. Birchwood was contracted to Rosetto Limited between 2001 and 2003. Rosetto were awarded contracts of €1.8m during this time. Duggan was considered a proprietor of Birchwood in 2001 and was a director of the company from March 2001 to November 2002. Birchwood was later acquired by Alan Hyde, another Direct Provision contractor.)

The three centres that are still in operation — Drishane Castle, Bridgewater House and Viking House — together are contracted to provide accommodation for 380 people, as of April 2015.

Milstreet Equestrian Services

The company contracted by the Department of Justice to run these centres is Milstreet Equestrian Services Limited (Millstreet). Millstreet was an Irish registered company owned by the Duggans until 2010 when they registered two companies in the Isle of Man — Arabella Unlimited and Tolosa Limited. These companies are now the shareholders of Milstreet and Arabella’s Unlimited status means the company is not required to file detailed annual accounts.

The last annual returns filed by Millstreet before becoming Unlimited do provide some idea of the amount of money the Duggans were making from the company. The Irish Times reported, based on the 2008 returns, that the company made a profit of €910,000. That is not the whole story. The 2008 returns also showed that the company has €1.8m in net current assets (including over €3m in cash before liabilities towards creditors were taken into account).

Millstreet paid €163,265 in directors’ remuneration in 2008 as well as €240,123 in director’s pensions which the explaintory note said applied to only one director. Thomas and Noel C. Diggan were the only directors of Millstreet Equestrian Services during this period. There was also €1,047,615 of a director’s loan outstanding to Thomas Duggan in 2008.

Centres

Of the centres owned by the Duggans, Drishane Castle is by far the most lucrative and the most controversial. Drishane, or the “Millstreet Accommodation Centre” as it’s known to the Department of Justice, was worth €24,848,289 in contracts from October 2000 to the end of 2012. It is still operating

Drishane was the site of a protest by residents in 2013 who raised issues such as the lack of an outdoor play area for children, a ban on children playing indoors, rotten food being served and a rat and cockroach infestation. The residents won many improvements through their occupation of the centre including the removal of a manager.

Viking House in Waterford City, which is still operating, was worth €11,448,695 in contracts between May 2001 and December 2012. A June 2014 RIA inspection report states that the inspector was approached by residents complaining about a lack of ethnic dishes on the menu in Viking. An inspection report from September 2014 stated that there were “similar choices” on the menu. A June 2015 report stated that there were still no ethnic dishes available and that there were “some similar choices” on the menu but that management were “working with the residents on the menus at the moment.”

Bridgewater House in Tipperary was worth €10,862,900 in contracts between May 2003 and December 2012. It is still operating.

The Duggans also operated five centres which have since closed:

Linden House, which closed in 2011 was worth €3,375,120 over 6 years.

73–75 Davis Street, Mallow was worth €2,212,070 between 2004 and 2010.

Vee Valley Hotel was worth €750,193 between 2000 and 2005.

Park Place Hotel was worth €1,363,127 between 2000 and 2004.

Island View House was worth €2,155,426 and only operated for two years between May 2000 and May 2002.

Purchase Orders

The Department of Justice only release data on Direct Provision contracts that is two years out of date. Records up until December 2012 are available but it’s still possible to get an idea of how much money the Duggans are being paid through Department of Justice purchase orders. Millstreet Equestrian Services is listed as having been paid a total of €4,449,690 in 2013 and €4,085,200 in 2014 to run their three remaining centres.

That makes the total value of payments to the Duggans between 2000 and 2014 around €65.5 million. They continue to operate Drishane Castle, Bridgewater House and Viking House.

All of the above information is true to the best of our knowledge. If there are any mistakes we would attribute it to the Duggans booking their accounts in the Isle of Man and the Department of Justice’s refusal to release up to date records of payments to Direct Provision contractors. Both the Duggans and Justice are more than welcome to contact us with any corrections. End Direct Provision.