STABLES, AN ARENA, and land belonging to convicted drug trafficker John Gilligan are to be sold by the Criminal Assets Bureau – 16 years after they was first seized.
The Jessbrook Equestrian Centre in north Kildare has lain empty since the CAB froze the asset in 1996, and it has been at the centre of a long-running court battle as Gilligan’s family fought to keep it within their ownership.
John Gilligan is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for drug trafficking. He was the leader of the gang which carried out the killing of Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996.
The Supreme Court this week gave the go-ahead for the centre – including a huge indoor arena which has been used as storage by the OPW in recent years, as well as stables and an apartment – to be sold. These photographs by PA photographer Niall Carson show how the centre looks now after being abandoned for more than a decade.
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