Wicklow County Councillor, Gerry O’Neill has expressed his frustration at continued delays in the council’s legal action against an unauthorised development in Kippure, County Wicklow.
As Gript previously reported 65 houses were constructed without planning permission on the site of Kippure Lodge, which is currently being used to accommodate asylum seekers.
Proceeds have been lodged by lawyers for Wicklow County Council to stop Tondo Ltd (Kippure Lodge), the owners of the site, after orders from the planning executive to remove the development were ignored.
After the case, which came before the High Court yesterday, was adjourned for a third time, Cllr. O’Neill said in a statement that the Kippure Lodge owners “went to the Courts only last Friday with an affidavit and Wicklow County Council sought an adjournment to study the paperwork. This is now the third adjournment this year and the Developers were first issued with enforcement notices in May 2024, having being issued with warning letters in June 2022,” he said.
Noting that the case is now adjourned until the 26th of January 2026, O’Neill said, “At this stage it’s becoming a bit of a joke and a mockery of the Planning and Legal system.”
He said that, “The people of this area of Wicklow are utterly gobsmacked at how anyone can get away with the building of 65 houses without any planning permission, the building of new roads and footpaths, a new gate lodge, a new electricity plant building, a new canteen and dining facility, a ”chapel style building”, the demolition of the old 18 century Belfry, new large car parks, all without planning permission.”
He also drew attention to “serious concern” with regards a new waste water treatment plant, which he says was also “built without any planning permission” and is less than 130 yards from the River Liffey.
O’Neill noted that the Liffey is the main water supply for the people of Dublin.
Double standard in planning enforcement
Cllr. O’Neill continued by pointing to requirements on local people “who are lucky enough to get planning permission for a one-off family home must comply with regulations where their percolation area for their septic tank must be 100 yards from streams which would be a contributor to the Liffey and these new homes could be 5 or 6 miles from the lake.”
He said the unauthorised ”waste water treatment plant” must be addressed immediately,” he said, claiming that there are “tank loads of septic tank waste coming out of the Kippure every week”.
Media indifference
Cllr. O’Neill also took aim at certain media outlets who he accused of choosing to “ignore this planning scandal” and are “only interested when gurriers burn down one of the Nursing units in St.Bridgets Crooksling which was earmarked for refugees”.
“Kippure Lodge hosts hundreds of refugees where management are paid eighty four euro per day per person, compliments of the Irish Government with taxpayers money,” he said.
High numbers of asylum seekers in West Wicklow
O’Neill said that his constituency of West Wicklow has “the highest amount of refugees in our Municipal Area compared with the other six Municipal areas in the county with over 50%.”
He said that while he did not wish to “join the racist bandwagon” in “attacking people of a different colour”, he said that he was “on record” in “exposing those who legislate for this insanity by making millions for their friends and ”people in the know” with regard to lucrative government contracts for the housing of asylum seekers.
He said that such individuals are “making themselves rich off the back of the Irish taxpayer”.