Press Release - Foreign and Commonwealth Office Resource
Accounts 2003-04: Rationalisation of the Glencairn Estate in
Dublin
25 May 2004
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, told
Parliament today that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had sold
the British Ambassador’s official Residence on the Glencairn estate
in Dublin and spent £6.4 million on purchasing Marlay Grange as a
replacement. Having spent a further £0.7 million on refurbishing
the property it then decided to re-purchase the Residence at
Glencairn and sell Marlay Grange.
Successive British Ambassadors to the Republic of Ireland had
resided in the official Residence on the Glencairn Estate since the
1950s. The Department had increasing concerns about the security of
the Residence arising from difficulty in policing a large estate of
some 34 acres, an increase in local building developments and
unsafe road access and increasingly heavy traffic between the
Residence and the Embassy, seven miles away. The Department took
these factors into account, decided to cash in on the estate’s
unrealised economic potential and sold the entire Glencairn estate,
including the Residence, for £24 million in April 1999.
However, the Department found it difficult to find a suitable
replacement Residence and it wasn’t until June 2000 that it
purchased Marley Grange. The Ambassador continued to occupy
Glencairn while a start was made on refurbishing Marlay Grange. The
Department had carried out a cost appraisal in January 2000 and
found that there was a cost advantage in buying back the Glencairn
Residence rather than purchasing Marley Grange. But when
qualititative weightings were taken into account, especially those
for security, Marlay Grange was considered the best option. Nearly
three years later, a fresh appraisal concluded that the security
situation had improved significantly and that it would now best
suit the Department’s needs to re-purchase the Glencairn Residence
and six acres of grounds and sell Marlay Grange.
Sir John Bourn said today:
"I applaud the Department’s efforts to rationalise its
estate when there are good reasons for doing so and to release
funds for new projects. In that sense the sale of most of the
Glencairn estate was good business. But the Department also made
two serious mistakes. It embarked on the sale of Glencairn without
real knowledge of the likelihood of being able to find a suitable
replacement Residence. And the purchase of Marlay Grange should not
have gone ahead unless the owners had first agreed to a full survey
of the general condition of the property.”
Notes for Editors:
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is now at www.nao.org.uk.
Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702
3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 800 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 68/04
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