One of Rathkeale's wealthiest residents is believed to have attended the latest public inquiry into the Dale Farm site.

Antique dealer Simon Quilligan - also known as "Sammy Buckshot" - is worth an estimated £24million.

Mr Quilligan was seen in the Towngate Theatre during last August's hearing.

He sat apart from the appellants and did not speak.

Yet Mr Quilligan, who was also pictured alongside mourners at the Rathkeale funeral of John and Kathleen McCarthy, assured the Echo he was a businessman, not a traveller and denied attending the inquiry.

He said: "There are hundreds of Quilligans in Cork alone. I don't know anything about Basildon or planning or traveller sites. The book has got it all wrong. I'll be suing the author."