Fingal County Council has initiated Circuit Court action against a man in Sutton, north Co Dublin, over his failure to comply with a four-year-old legal notice to remove a “large unauthorised structure” from his period home.
The proceedings were issued on Monday against Philip Farrelly of Burrow Road, whose beachfront property near Howth lies on a premium residential strip where the late rock star Phil Lynott had a home.
Fingal’s March 2020 enforcement notice was issued in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic but the case is still going on. The council directed Mr Farrelly to remove the unauthorised structure by Burrow Beach within four months. That did not happen.
The structure is still standing, prompting Mr Farrelly’s next-door neighbour Simon Revill to repeatedly demand action from Fingal to enforce its order.
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The structure overlooks the back of Mr Revill’s home and throws his garden and the rear of his house into shadow.
The council said it had initiated proceedings against the owner of a property at Burrow Road, Sutton. “The council will not be commenting further as this matter is now before the courts,” it added.
Mr Farrelly had nothing to say about the court action. “I’m not aware of any proceedings and I certainly don’t have any comment,” he said in reply to questions.
In its original enforcement notice, Fingal said failure to comply with such a notice within six months may be deemed an offence.
The proceedings initiated on Monday come three months after An Bord Pleanála issued an August ruling in the case, saying extensive works at the house were “not exempted development”.
The works included the demolition of a two-storey extension to the rear of the dwelling and construction of a larger two-storey extension. They also included the demolition of a single-storey sunroom, the construction of a single-storey extension in the same place and the construction of a lean-to roof.
Fingal’s move in July 2023 to seek a ruling from An Bord Pleanála surprised Mr Revill, as he was never notified and learned of it only after The Irish Times made inquiries about the case.
After belatedly hearing about the file being sent to An Bord Pleanála, he tried make a formal submission, but the planning body told him the four-week deadline for observations had passed.
At the time, Mr Farrelly said he was confident the construction was “perfectly legal”. In 2023, Fingal said it sought a declaration from An Bord Pleanála because “the developer has put forward the case that they consider the development is exempted development”.
Fingal’s original enforcement notice said: “If the council decides to prosecute you for noncompliance with this notice and you are found guilty of an offence by the courts you may be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 and/or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both or on conviction following trial on indictment to a fine not exceeding €12,697,381 and/or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.”
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