Two garda enquiries involving University of Limerick

GARDAI are conducting two separate enquiries in relation to University of Limerick (UL ) -an allegation of harassment over anonymous poison-pen letters, and “possible fraud” over the acquisition of 20 homes in Rhebogue.

The Leader broke the story on Friday that UL made a “possible fraud” referral to gardai last week over the ‘“Rhebogue acquisition” which saw the institution overpay by €5.2m for 20 homes.

It is understood that the view was formed that “in all the circumstances a referral to An Garda Síochána under Section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act 2011 is appropriate”.

That section “places a legal obligation on you to report to An Garda Síochána, information relating to possible frauds which you know or believe might prevent the fraud being committed, or secure the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of a person involved in fraudulent activity".

Separately, the Leader has learned that gardai are investigating a complaint made over anonymous poison-pen letters addressed to individuals in the senior ranks of UL.

A source in UL confirmed that anonymous letters were addressed to a large number of senior officials in the University of Limerick and the letters made reference to at least one staff member.

“The letters were all copies of each other. Thankfully, someone had the good sense to stop them before they were widely circulated. They made nasty and unreasonable comments against people in here. To do something like that and not even put your name to it is just cowardly,” said the source.

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Another source at UL confirmed the incident, saying, “It is something that should not have happened and it’s of course very upsetting for anyone targeted in a campaign like that.

“The allegations contained in the letters were absolute rubbish anyway. All these things, of course, go through a process and it was ultimately confirmed that the letters didn’t disclose anything that required action by UL,” said the source regarding the incident which dates back to mid-2023.

The Leader has learned that at least one of the people who was mentioned in the anonymous letters, has made a formal complaint to gardai.

There is an ongoing investigation with alleged harassment of the person named in the letters being one of the avenues that is being explored. UL declined to comment.