I agree, the owner needs a liaison to interact on his behalf. For the last two months, I've been trying to get members of the Wayne family interested in trying to help Mr. Ebbitt (he's the owner of the property where the cottage is).
When my wife and I were in southern California with our family on a recent vacation, we met with Mr. Ebbitt and his wife. He shared with us that he and his wife absolutely love the movie The Quiet Man. When they were in Ireland a number of years ago (around 1982, if I remember correctly), they visited Ireland for two weeks. He learned that the property was for sale, expressed his immediate and intense interest to buy the property, yet it still took almost three years before he became the owner.
It was his desire to restore the cottage, and he made at least two trips to Ireland to try to make it happen, after making numerous contacts prior to his trips. Both times, when he got there, no one showed up to meet with him. After two such experiences, he was sorely disappointed and discouraged. As time has gone on, he has had several offers from people who would like to purchase the property. He is NOT interested in selling it. He would be most interested in working with someone (group or individual) who has the cash to do the restoration. He has ideas that would make the area a potentially attractive tourist destination in Ireland.
Three months ago, as a member of the StQMC Facebook group, I noticed another member, Patrick McCormick, make remarks implying government confiscation of the property after I made a post regarding possibly talking to Mr. Ebbitt. That remark was the primary reason I started establishing a dialogue with Mr. Ebbitt, as I am very much opposed to government confiscation of privately owned property.
Patrick McCormick has been a major player in the StQMC FB group, along with Mike Ward. As I may have mentioned before, I sent an email to Mike Ward indicating that I met with Mr. Ebbitt and would provide further information regarding Mr. Ebbitt's perspective on the whole affair. I was immediately 'unfriended' by Mike Ward on Facebook and no longer a member of the StQMC FB group. Now, in the last few days, there have been several articles in Irish newspapers regarding the QM cottage and how the "American owner" doesn't want to work with anyone in the restoration process. I know for a fact that this isn't true, and I'm concerned that there is a conspiracy going on between the StQMC group, several politicians, and some of the media. Today I responded to one of the news articles over there with the comment that Mr. Ebbitt was indeed willing to work with people and wanted to get on with the restoration. Here it is, 12 hours later, and my post has yet to be moderated/approved. At the same time, just 12 hours ago, Patrick McCormick, on his White'o'Morn restoration FB group, showed a copy of his and Mike Ward's plan to restore the cottage after the government confiscates it. I've sent several emails to Mr. Ebbitt in the past two days, trying to make him aware that the 'sharks are circling', and they're out for blood.
Who knows if I'm on the right trail or not. Ultimately, the final goal is restoration of the cottage. I do think that if the Wayne family would help Mr. Ebbitt and get involved in this, that would be very beneficial.
What do you all think of all of this? Any thoughts or suggestions?
Chester 
