Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I warmly thank the Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, for coming to the Chamber to deal with this matter on the afternoon of Holy Thursday. As he is well aware, the Howth Peninsula has been a favourite walking location for visitors and residents alike for many centuries. Well over 500,000 people from across Dublin and the whole mid-Leinster region, and indeed from abroad, visit the peninsula and the town of Howth every year. Just this morning, hundreds of very welcome visitors arrived to enjoy the amenities of the town and the peninsula. Many walkers traverse the old tram line, the historic loop walkway and the rights of way across the east and west mountains on the Howth Peninsula every year. They enjoy its unique flora and fauna and the spectacular views across Dublin Bay and Baldoyle Bay.

In 1996 or 1997, in response to a public-spirited campaign led by Jean Finn, the people of Howth and an organisation called Howth-Sutton 2000, which I strongly supported, the then Minister for the Environment, Deputy Howlin, ordered Fingal County Council to designate the amenity lands of Howth as a special amenity area.

I have strongly supported the efforts of community leaders on this matter over the years, including Kevin Rickard, David Caulfield, Brendan Keegan, Pat Hennessy, Helen Gilmore and Caoimhghín Ó Laoi, to preserve and maintain the magnificent walkways of Howth Peninsula. They have been strongly assisted by local Councillor Cian O'Callaghan and former Councillor David Healy.

Astonishingly, in recent years, new residents on the East Mountain have attempted to close off completely a major right of way by erecting a gate across it, fencing off some of the amenity lands and introducing changes into the fauna of the area. The walkway under threat is part of the historic loop walkway linking the Howth Summit and the Upper Cliff Road walkways to the lower cliff path near Casana Rock. It passes the entrance to Heather Cottage, the construction of which by the developer, Treasury Holdings, was opposed by the people of Howth in the mid-1990s. They saw it as the first step by the developer to privatise the East Mountain amenity lands and walkways and fill them in with concrete.

The loop walkway, which is being illegally blocked, is a primary walkway and right of way from time out of mind and is on all of the oldest Howth maps, including those used for decades by campaigners for the Howth environment. A recent public meeting on the matter confirmed the widespread local view that Fingal County Council has failed in its duty to invigilate all aspects of the special amenity area order, SAAO, which is now approaching its 20th anniversary. Indeed, it was a referral to An Bord Pleanála by environmental activists which established that the erection of a gate on the loop walkway near Heather Cottage is not an exempted development under section 5(3)(a) of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

Howth residents and visitors want to know why Fingal County Council did not order the immediate removal of the illegal gate, fencing, surface stones and fauna, and address the other violations of the Howth SAAO at this location, when these illegal and unauthorised changes were first made, and why the An Bord Pleanála decision has not been strictly enforced. They also want to know why the council lodged an application with An Bord Pleanála in August 2013 seeking further clarification of its decision, reference RL 3131, which clearly showed the erection of this large gate structure is not an exempted development. My constituents fear that this outrageous attempt to destroy an historic right of way in Howth may well be a prelude to landowners like Allenspark and Treasury Holdings alienating the amenity lands of Howth and turning the East Mountain - indeed, the entire peninsula - into a gated fortress something like Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera, reserved only for the very rich.

Some time ago, I proposed to the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, that the Howth Peninsula be added to the list of unique Irish locations to be designated as UNESCO world heritage sites. There is a strong case for such designation given the incredible beauty of Howth, its closeness to the centre of our capital city, its unique flora and fauna from its near island location, and its extraordinary history. When the first settlers arrived in Ireland 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, after the last Ice Age, they chose the Howth Peninsula for one of their first settlements. That historic background and unique environment should persuade Fingal County Council, working with our terrific environmental community leaders in Howth and Sutton, to make a strong case for Howth and its environment. First and foremost, however, we want the council and its new manager, Mr. Paul Reid, to enforce the special amenity area order without fear or favour.

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