Site development work is to resume this morning at Swords Town Park where Fingal County Council plans to build its civic offices because, according to the council, neither it nor its contractors have been served with a High Court injunction after fresh proceedings by local objectors.
Last Monday the county council decided by 15 votes to seven to extinguish public rights of way through the park. On the following day, the gates were padlocked and on Wednesday heavy machinery was moved in to "rip up" the pathways, as the Swords Town Park Action Group put it.
This "high-handed" action was "an absolute affront to the people of Swords", according to the action group. "Local residents, fearful of the possibility that the contractor would start felling trees, arrived at the park just before dawn to hold a vigil at each of the gates."
On Thursday, Ms Mary Bateman, a local nurse and supporter of the campaign against the proposed civic offices, went to the High Court and obtained an ex parte injunction against the council and its contractors, P.J. Hegarty Ltd, requiring them to halt further development work on the site.
The matter is due to come before the court again this morning, when the council will be "vigorously defending its position", according to the Fingal county architect, Mr David O'Connor. It would also be claiming the injunction had not been served on the council or its agents.
This is the second time the fate of Swords Town Park has gone to the High Court. Last year, the council's opponents won a legal action challenging its right to proceed with the £11 million project because it had not gone through the statutory procedure for extinguishing public rights of way.
After 1,380 people had lodged objections to the closure of paths through the town park, the council engaged Mr John Fitzgerald SC to hold an oral hearing, at which 57 people made submissions. But it suffered something of a reverse when this independent chairman recommended against the scheme.
The Fingal county manager, Mr William Soffe, told councillors last Monday that while Mr Fitzgerald's six-page report had come down against extinguishing the rights of way, it did not put forward any arguments to support this recommendation. "It does not argue the position either way."
Mr Soffe said he still believed the benefits of building the Fingal County Hall on the town park "far outweighs any disadvantages" because it was "the only suitable and viable site in Swords" for this project.
Accordingly, he firmly recommended extinguishing the rights of way.
This advice was accepted by a majority of councillors, with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in favour and Labour and the Green Party against it. Mr Trevor Sargent TD (GP, Dublin North) said the county hall should be built somewhere else, leaving the park to "the people of Fingal and its wildlife."
Mr Sargent, who took part in last week's vigil, said the latest High Court action provided "a respite for the park and prevented Fingal County Council moving in with chainsaws and JCBs."
Senator Sean Ryan (Labour), who is seeking to regain his Dail seat, has also been a vocal critic.
The action group has made much of the fact that the park was officially opened in June 1986 by the then chairman of Dublin County Council, Mr Ray Burke, on the former site of Swords House and dedicated - as a press release said at the time - for "the use and enjoyment of all the people of Swords."
But a statement issued on behalf of the council yesterday said new footpaths would be provided to replace the rights of way which had been extinguished. The edge of the park would be landscaped to form "a new town square set within a crescent of trees".
The statement also pointed out that the design of the County Hall, by Bucholz McEvoy Architects in collaboration with BDP Dublin, had emerged from an architectural competition held two years ago this month. A consciously "green" building, it also retains evergreen oaks on the site.
Mr O'Connor, the county architect, said extensive work was being done to nearby Swords Castle so that it could be reopened to the public and this would "more than compensate for the loss of the park".
He said nearly £1 million had been allocated to upgrade and "traffic-calm" the main street.
He said work on the County Hall had already been delayed for seven months because of the continuing controversy. However, he was convinced that the vast majority of people in Swords - and Fingal in general - would be favourably impressed when it was finally finished in September 1999.