A RESIDENT of Killiney has won a court order directing the removal of an eyesore spoiling his panoramic view of Dublin Bay.
Liam McDonnell, Vico Road, Co Dublin, sued the Electricity Supply Board for more than €8,000 which he paid it to take away and resite a lamp post carrying an ugly "spaghetti junction" of overhead wires.
Andrew Fitzpatrick, counsel for Mr McDonnell, told the Circuit Civil Court yesterday his client had prepaid the ESB just short of €30,000 to bury cabling to his home and the site of the new lamp post. While the overhead wires had been removed and underground cabling had been installed, the old pole remained in situ and the new one, which was to have been placed nine metres from the the old one, had not been erected.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane heard that despite conciliatory talks, the parties remained far apart when it came to deciding which of them should have liaised with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council about the placement of the new pole.
She was told the local authority could not remove the old pole carrying the overhead wiring because it belonged to the ESB. The ESB, when it was installing underground cabling to Mr McDonnell's home and the site of the new lamp post, could not erect the new pole because that was the job of the county council. As a result the old thick pole had to remain in place for security reasons.
Judge Linnane said Mr McDonnell, who had been carrying out an extension to his home several years ago, had wanted a more aesthetic arrangement of lamp posts and cabling and had prepaid the ESB €29,525 for the work. He had never disputed that he would have to pay the local authority another €1,500 for the new lamp post.
She said he had got fed up waiting for the matter to be resolved between the ESB and the council and had decided to sue for the return of €8,364, the difference between the cost of the work already carried out by the ESB and the sum he had paid it.
Judge Linnane said the contract should be completed by the ESB rather than refund Mr McDonnell and directed the erection of the new lamp post at its new site within four weeks.
She also ordered the ESB to arrange connection of power to the new pole at the same time as decommissioning and removing the old pole.
Mr McDonnell was awarded his legal costs.