PROPERTY BELONGING TO convicted criminal John Gilligan is up for sale, 17 years after it was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).

According to Real Estate Alliance, on the instructions of the Commissioners of Public Works, the lands and buildings formerly known as ‘Jessbrook Equestrian Centre’, and other agricultural property at Mucklon, Co Kildare, are for sale by private treaty.

The sale comes after a long-running court battle between Gilligan and the CAB to release the property and put it on the market.

It is expected that the estate will fetch €500,000.

The property has lain empty since 1996, when it was frozen by CAB.

Up for sale is 80 acres of land, an equestrian arena and other agriculture buildings. They are being sold in three lots.

Gilligan is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for drug trafficking. He was the leader of the gang which was responsible for the killing of the journalist Veronica Guerin, who wrote for the Sunday Independent, in 1996.

He had to be extradited back to Ireland after fleeing the country following Guerin’s murder.

The go-ahead for the sale was given in November 2012 by the Supreme Court.

A look inside the property that is for sale: