VA04.1.008 – Clones Community Forum Ltd.

• Court: Valuation Tribunal
• Appeal Number: VA04.1.008
• Year: 2004
• Date: Fecha inválida
• Respondent: Commissioner of Valuation
• Appellant: Clones Community Forum Ltd.

Appeal No. VA04/1/008

AN BINSE LUACHÁLA

VALUATION TRIBUNAL

AN tACHT LUACHÁLA, 2001

VALUATION ACT, 2001

Clones Community Forum Ltd. APPELLANT

and

Commissioner of Valuation RESPONDENT

RE: Office No.1 & No. 3 Celtic House, Fermanagh Street, The Diamond, Clones

County Monaghan

B E F O R E

John O'Donnell - Senior Counsel Chairperson

Patrick Riney - FSCS FRICS FIAVI Member

Joseph Murray - Barrister Member

JUDGMENT OF THE VALUATION TRIBUNAL

ISSUED ON THE 15TH DAY OF JUNE, 2004

By Notice of Appeal dated 19th day of February 2004, the appellant appealed against the

determination of the Commissioner of Valuation in fixing a rateable valuation of €26 on

the above described relevant property.

The Grounds of Appeal as set out in the Notice of Appeal are:

"Clones Community Forum Ltd is a community development organisation and is non-

profit making."

2

The appeal proceeded by way of an oral hearing held in the offices of the Tribunal,

Ormond House, Ormond Quay, Dublin, on the 26th April 2004.The Appellant was

represented by Mr. Walter Pringle, Chairperson of Clones Community Forum, and the

Respondent by Mr. Christopher Hicks, a valuer with the Valuation Office.

The Tribunal was furnished with a brief submission in writing on behalf of the Appellant

and also a submission in writing on behalf of the Respondent. These submissions were

commendably brief and to the point. Both parties adopted their submissions as evidence

at the oral hearing.

THE APPELLANT:

The only witness to give evidence on behalf of the Appellant was Mr. Walter Pringle who

is the Chairperson of the Forum and has been for the last four years. In his evidence he

gave a graphic description of the effect which “the Troubles” have had on life in Clones

generally. He suggested that the experience of the Troubles there was more acute in some

respects in Clones than in other towns in the area. For example, at one period the town

lost twenty of its businesses in its main street. For a relatively small town this was a

devastating blow. Clones was briefly famous as the hometown of the “Clones Cyclone”,

Barry McGuigan, the well-known boxing champion in the 1980s. But it appears that this

was a brief moment of celebration in what has been an era of significant decline for the

town. It is recognised that a number of different initiatives were needed to rejuvenate not

simply the economic and industrial life of the town but also its social and cultural fabric.

In this regard Mr. Pringle contends that there is occasionally a feeling that the community

is still somewhat split along sectarian lines. Although this is less of a problem than it

was, it is obviously a matter which needs to be addressed.

The Forum was set up in 1999 to act as an umbrella group to coordinate the various

interest groups within the community which are trying to develop new initiatives to