Ashley Madison - Number cheats?

Almost 1,200 Irish-based subscribers have paid thousands of euros to Ashley Madison, the dating website for people seeking extramarital affairs, including one Dubliner who spent almost €10,000.

An analysis of millions of records of credit card transactions leaked as part of an international hacking scandal show there were more than 6,160 financial transactions by Irish subscribers since 2008.

Irish customers of the Canadian-based website spent around €200,000 on payments to Ashley Madison before last month’s high-profile cyber attack which captured global headlines. They include one Dubliner who has splashed out almost €10,000 on various types of subscriptions.

However, a detailed examination of the records by The Sunday Times identified approximately 1,150 unique users around the country. The overwhelming majority are male with just 44 female names contained on the list – just under 4 per cent of the total – although the gender of some subscribers is unknown.

All 26 counties are represented on the list with approximately 40% of the total based in Dublin with 477 members.

The next highest number of Ashley Madison paid subscribers are based in Cork (128) followed by Galway (62), Kildare (50) and Limerick (41). The lowest level of interest is, unsurprisingly, in counties with the smallest populations including Leitrim (3), Longford (8) and Carlow (9) with one member even located on one of Ireland’s offshore islands.

The vast majority of the website’s Irish members used personal e-mails addresses with no links to their employment or job. However, a number of individuals used a business e-mail address with the database containing listings with links to a solicitor’s firm in Munster, a property services company in Dublin, a private investigation firm and an educational website.

The name of a criminal who spent time in prison after being convicted of managing brothels is also on the list.

Others have links to a building firm in the midlands, a pharmacy in Connacht and a furniture supplier in Leinster, while there are also contact details for individuals based in UCD and UCC.

One male subscriber based in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin authorised a total of 123 transactions at a cost of almost €9,770 between October 2010 and August 2014.

The man’s last payment was for €19 – the “full delete” fee associated with getting Ashley Madison to permanently erase a person’s profile including every message, photo and interaction they had on the site.

He also made three payments of €249 during 2011 – the charge for the site’s “affair guaranteed” package.

The database was leaked at the same time as a larger datadump of Ashley Madison’s client base which contained details of some 37 million users of the website, including an estimated 115,000 subscribers with e-mail addresses linked to Ireland.

However, there is significant doubt if such figures relate to unique and actual individuals as there is no means of verifying that people’s e-mail addresses were not registered by others. Among the registered users, more than 12 million had e-mails which were regarded as invalid.

The database containing information of credit card transactions is a separate list and includes the names, residential and e-mail addresses, last four-digits of credit card numbers and IP addresses (computer identifiers).

For such payments, Ashley Madison subscribers are able to send e-mail and priority messages to other subscribers, initiate chat sessions and send virtual gifts, while free members cannot initiate any contact.

Internet searches on the names of a random sample of people on the list confirm many as business executives and professionals who would be well known in their own area, with several involved in running their own business.

Since the start of the leak, Ashley Madison has been forced to defend itself against criticism that few women actively use its service.

The company’s claim that females compromise 5.5 million out of its 37 million clients is seen by many as implausible with computer experts hinting that addresses could have been bulk-bought from marketing companies.

Attention has also been drawn to the fact that the database reveals that only a few thousand women checked their messages or engaged on the site’s chat platform with most non-paying, female subscribers showing no kind of activity on their Ashley Madison account.

In contrast, over 10 million men have initiated chats on the website.

Individuals whose personal details have already been leaked face further anxiety as the hackers behind the original datadump have warned they plan to release tens of thousands of pictures, user chats and private message in the next release of Ashley Madison material.

Police authorities in Canada investigating the leaks have already linked multiple blackmail attempts and a number of suicides to the leak by a group of hackers known as the Impact Team.

Ashley Madison has offered a reward worth almost €350,000 for information which will lead to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the leak.

Meanwhile, Avid Life Media, the parent company of Ashley Madison, has insisted the website – whose slogan is “life is short – have an affair” – has never been busier in the aftermath of the hacking scandal.

Property prices back with a bang - particularly outside Dublin

The property market in the first half of 2015 has seen dramatic growth with sales activity and house prices soaring ahead of last year’s figures – especially outside Dublin where prices are up by over 11% on average.
An analysis of the Residential Property Price Register (RPPR) shows that the resurgence which was confined to the capital in recent years is now occurring in most parts of the country.
The average price of homes has also risen in almost every county with the national average now standing at €164,000 –an annual increase of 10%. The rise in average prices nationally over the past 12 months is €15,000 from €149,000 in June 2014.




If property prices in Dublin are excluded the national average is up 11% to €125,000 – an increase of €12,500 over a 12-month period.
The increase in the average prices of homes sold in Dublin between January and June this year is more modest at 5.4% - up €13,500 to €262,500 – reflecting how the property market outside the capital is driving most of the growth in house prices.
The only two counties to record a slight decrease in average (median) prices so far this year are Offaly and Sligo. Although property prices are still not back at levels before the economic downturn, they are now at their highest peak since 2011 in many regions.


The findings confirm figures published last week by the Banking and Payments Federation which showed the number of mortgages being drawn down so far in 2015 has risen sharply compared to the previous year.
Further signs of renewed activity in the construction sector were also evident with more than 3,000 new homes sold in the first six months of the year compared just over 2,000 in the same period last year. More than a third of all new houses and apartments were sold in Dublin.



The RPPR shows that 21,148 new and second-hand homes were sold in the first half of this year – a 38% increase – with more than 5,800 more properties sold than in the corresponding period in 2014 when 15,342 sales were recorded.
The current level of activity in the property market is three times greater than was being carried out just four years ago. Less than 7,200 properties were sold in the first half of 2011.
The growth in the value of all properties sold between January and June this year is even more pronounced with the total value of the market worth €4.58 billion. It represents a 45% jump on the €3.17 billion value of all sales in the same period during 2014. The half-yearly value of residential property sales in 2011 was just €1.68 billion.
An analysis of the RPPR, which is the official record of all residential property sales in Ireland, shows more homes were sold in every county in the first half of 2015 than in the same period last year. The value of the transactions increased even more sharply in almost every county with a few exceptions including Dublin, Longford, Roscommon, Sligo and Offaly.



(The analysis only relates to properties sold at full price. In the case of new homes, 13.5% is added to the selling price recorded in the RPPR to reflect the true cost of the property when VAT is added.)
The strongest growth in sales activity was in Limerick where the number of transactions were up 65% with the number of houses sold up 324 to 825.
Other counties whose property markets were noticeably busier were Longford (up 58%), Kildare (up 53%) and Tipperary and Mayo (both up 48%).
Trading levels in Dublin were also booming with the number of sales of houses and apartments in the capital up 46% - with 7,150 property sales recorded.
In Cork, 2,305 properties were sold – an extra 637 sales over the same period in 2014, representing a 38% increase, while the number of sales in Galway were up 39% with 3,674 properties sold in the first six months of the year.
Only Wicklow, Cavan, Monaghan and Kilkenny recorded more sluggish growth with a single digit percentage rise in selling activity to date in 2015. Every other county witnessed the number of house sales increase by in excess of 20%.
There was also major increases in the average prices of homes in many counties, although some figures are explained by the relatively low number of transactions.
For example, the average price of properties sold in Cavan this year is €74,500 compared to €42,000 in the first half of 2014. However, the 77% increase is largely skedded by the cheap sale of a large number of apartments in the same complex in Cavan town last year.
Other big percentage increases have been recorded in Monaghan (up 35% to €100,000); Kilkenny (up 29% to €135,000) and Carlow (up 22% to €120,000).
In Cork the median price of properties has increased by 10% or €15,000 to €160,000, while in Waterford it surged ahead by 13% - up more than €12,300 to just over €107,300.



The pace of growth in average prices was more sluggish in Limerick and Galway. The median price of homes sold in Limerick up to June was up just under 6% or around €5,800 to €110,000, while in Galway they rose a similar percentage – up €7,500 to €140,000.

The cheapest housing in the country is still found in Co Longford where the median price of homes is still under €60,000 – although the figure is somewhat skewed by the sale of 12 apartments in the same complex in Longford for less than €7,000 each.

The average price of housing is still below €100,000 in several counties including Mayo, Tipperary, Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim and Offaly.
The analysis of the RPPR also reveals that a total of 221 properties in the Republic were sold for a price in excess of €1m in the six months to the end of June. The figure was 159 over the same period last year.


The most expensive transaction was the sale of an 80-apartment complex, Dundrum View in south Dublin for just over €28m to property company, Hibernia REIT.

The former luxury home of businessman Tony O’Reilly, Castlemartin House in Kilcullen, Co Kildare fetched the highest price for a single property at €26.5m. The 750-acre estate was bought by John Malone – a US billionaire behind the UPC-owned Liberty Global.

Fianna Fáil-Green coalition arranged cheaper electricity for large businesses at expense of ordinary consumers during economic downturn

by Seán McCárthaigh

The Fianna Fáil-Green government led by former Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, deliberately chose to impose higher electricity prices on ordinary households in the middle of the economic downturn in order to reduce energy costs for 1,500 large business users.                                

Cabinet papers released under the Freedom of Information Act show the coalition discriminated against domestic consumers by favouring cost-cutting measures to support some of the biggest multinationals in Ireland.

The documents show that in July 2009 the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan sought Government approval for “the permanent rebalancing from October 1, 2010 of network tariffs towards Large Energy Users (LEUs) to be paid for by higher prices to domestic consumers.”

The addition of €50m to domestic customer tariffs added more than 3% to household electricity bills, although its impact was effectively nullified by a subsequent fall in international fossil fuel prices.

Justifying its decision, the Government noted that industry groups had regularly complained about the disparity between household electricity prices in Ireland which were “broadly competitive” with other EU countries and much higher energy costs for large companies.

Faced with the prospect of having to find €1 billion to maintain existing subsidy levels to avoid price rises for all electricity customers, the Cabinet voted instead to only provide such supports for large industry at the lower cost of just €176m.

Ryan also sought a special dividend of €176m from the ESB, from the profits of its sale of a generating plant to Spanish electricity firm, Endesa in order to ensure that LEU’s faced no increase in electricity network charges in 2009-2010.

He pointed out that all electricity users were benefitting from subsidies totalling €567m, which he described as “extraordinary measures taken to prevent major (40%) increases in electricity prices in 2008 as international fossil fuel prices soared.” However, he also acknowledged that they could only be “a temporary remedy.”

As the subsidies were set to expire in September 2009, Ryan warned that LEUs would see their electricity bills increase by up to 30% unless special measures were taken.

The document shows that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Renewal whose membership consisted of Ryan, Cowen, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan and Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan decided that large energy users should face no increases in their electricity bills.

Ryan highlighted how many LEUs were based in the technological, pharmaceutical and food and drink sectors and were major employers, representing a significant proportion of Irish export income. He claimed other EU countries had also adopted various measurers to keep energy costs lower for large businesses.

The Government also took care to note that electricity prices for Irish households were 4-7% below the EU average.

“A rebalancing of network tariffs in favour of LEUs, achieved through higher network charges for domestic users, would help safe-guard employment in some of our most critical and export-oriented industries,” observed Ryan.

It was estimated that adding €50m to domestic customer tariffs would also add €5m to the social welfare bill for providing free electricity units to some customers.

Ryan anticipated that such a measure would “prove unpopular” but argued households could still avail of discounts from ESB’s competitors which had recently entered the electricity market.

However, he added: “The rebalancing of tariffs would send a clear signal to industry that Government is committed to improving the competitiveness of energy costs for business as part of the overall competitiveness challenge.”

Rebates for LEUs were eventually ended in September 2012. Ireland currently has the 7^th most expensive electricity in the EU for LEUs with prices about 8% above the EU average.

Asked this week about the issue, Ryan – the current Green Party leader – said it was a difficult decision but “employment was a huge issue at the time.”

Millfield Manor - Full version of Sunday Times piece from May 17, 2015

More than 20 inspections carried out by planning officials of an estate in Newbridge, Co Kildare, which has been at the centre of growing concern about the safety of homes following a dramatic fire earlier this year, failed to identify any major problems during its construction phase.

Kildare Co Council has revealed its building control inspectors conducted in excess of 20 visits of Millfield Manor between 2005 and 2009 when a range of houses and apartments were being built by Barrack Construction, a development company run by Kildare builder, Paddy Byrne.

“Only significant incidents or issues identified by the inspector would be noted on the file,” said a council spokesperson.

However, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show only one short hand-written note was filed as a result of building compliance inspections on Millfield Manor by council staff. It related to an issue with cavity barriers in some units during a routine inspection in December 2005. The council said the problem had been rectified within a fortnight.

The estate is at the centre of a major controversy following a dramatic fire on March 31 which completely gutted a terrace of six houses in around 30 minutes. Fears about the safety of their homes have increased for residents following the completion of a report commissioned by the local authority after the recent fire.

The report, which examined the condition of 10 unoccupied houses in terms of compliance with fire safety regulations of buildings, identified serious failings with the construction of housing units in Millfield Manor.  It found “numerous deficiencies” in the timber-frame separating walls between houses. In particular, such walls were inadequately completed at attic and lower floor levels.

Surveyors found boards between the system-built chimneys were not properly fixed, while there was inadequate fire stopping near the roof. They also discovered deficiencies with the external walls of the surveyed houses including the absence of cavity barriers.

The fire safety engineers said the recommended remedial works to make the buildings safe would require the removal of roof tiles and parts of chimney stacks.

“Given the number of faults that have recently been identified, it’s extraordinary how the council could have conducted that number of inspections and not have detected them,” said local independent councillor, Willie Crowley.

Residents have estimated that the problems are so extensive that it could cost each homeowner around €30,000 to make their property safe, while also requiring them to find alternative accommodation while such work was being carried out.

Crowley said residents were extremely disappointed by the outcome of a meeting with council officials on Friday when they were advised they would have to hire their own fire safety engineers to examine the condition of their homes as the local authority had no responsibility to carry out such work.

The Sunday Times revealed last week that apartment blocks at Millfield Manor have also been the subject of a number of fire safety notices issued by Kildare Fire Service in recent years.

It is understood a number of parties including a property management company are facing a criminal prosecution over the poor standard of fire-resistant glazing in some apartment blocks on the estate.

Kildare Co Council admitted the level of inspection of Millfield Manor by its fire safety officers was greater than for similar developments based on a risk assessment.

Asked about the failure of the local authority’s building inspectors to uncover any of the deficiencies highlighted in the recent report, a council spokesperson said the building control code relied to a significant extent on the statutory responsibility of practitioners in the construction industry to design and construct buildings in accordance with building regulations

“The random inspections undertaken by building control authorities are essentially supplementary to this primary statutory obligation,” she remarked.

The spokesperson said Kildare Co Council had exceeded the target level of inspections – which was 12-15% of new buildings notified to local authorities in commencement notices – during the construction phase of Milltown Manor.

She also explained that a €400,000 bond, which residents have called on the local authority to draw down to fund the repair of their homes, only related to the satisfactory completion of public infrastructure on the estate and could not cover any works to individual houses or apartment blocks.

Meanwhile, it is understood that Environment Minister, Alan Kelly has agreed to meet with residents of Millifield Manor over the coming weeks to discuss their situation.

Fire safety report on Millfield Manor from 2013

Here's a fire safety re-inspection report on apartment blocks at Millfield Manor from 2013

Ulitmately the prosecution did not go ahead after the problems identified in the report were rectified...but only after a legal warning.

Kildare Co Council's records of planning inspections on Millfield Manor

More than 20 inspections carried out by planning officials of an estate in Newbridge, Co Kildare, which has been at the centre of growing concern about the safety of homes following a dramatic fire earlier this year, failed to identify any major problems during its construction phase.

Kildare Co Council has revealed its building control inspectors conducted in excess of 20 visits of Millfield Manor between 2005 and 2009 when a range of houses and apartments were being built by Barrack Construction, a development company run by Kildare builder, Paddy Byrne.

This is the sole record on the council's file as a result of those 20-plus inspections

Millfield Manor - Newbridge

Records released by Kildare County Council show that inspectors from its Fire Service have repeatedly found major problems with the fire safety of apartments at Millfield Manor in Newbridge.

The estate was the scene of a controversial fire which gutted a terraced row of six houses in under 30 minutes on March 31, 2015.

Residents fear the problems which were highlighted both from the recent fire and past inspection reports are prevalent in most homes within Millfield Manor.

The remit of the Fire Service is confined to apartment blocks on the estate..

Here's the first report it carried out on Millfield Manor in 2009

And here's another report from the Kildare Fire Service on apartment blocks in Millfield Manor from 2011