An Bord Pleanála granted permission to Green Reit for a two-screen cinema in the basement area of the One Molesworth Street in Dublin 2, which also houses the Ivy restaurant.
The plan was put on hold last December after an S O'Neill of DET Ltd with a Dun Laoghaire address lodged an appeal to An Bord Pleanála against the Dublin City Council decision to grant permission.
asked that the appeal be dismissed, arguing that DET Limited did not exist and that the appeal lodged was “vexatious, frivolous and without foundation”.
The consultants told the appeals board that the appeal was vexatious and had been made “with the sole intention of frustrating and delaying the current development proposal”.
Green Reit employed legal firm Arthur Cox to support its case and Arthur Cox told the appeals board that DET Ltd is a non-existent entity.
Dublin City Council declared the objection by DET Limited invalid after the applicants raised concerns over the existence of the company.
However, in a fresh twist, the appeals board declared that the appeal was valid after Ms O’Neill sent in a submission in response to the John Spain/Arthur Cox claims made on behalf of Green Reit.
In the letter delivered by courier to the appeals board offices, Ms O’Neill stated: “You will see from my submission, I stated my name S O’Neill on all correspondence and I am happy to attend your offices with my passport to confirm I am a person capable of making a submission.”
‘Actually existed’
In the letter now released by the board, Ms O’Neill stated: “I legally and actually existed at the time of making the submission and legally and actually exist now in accordance with Section 127 (1) of the Planning and Development Act.”
She added: “Notwithstanding the fact that I made the submission personally as evidenced from the wording I used in my correspondence, my reference for my own benefit on this matter was DET Limited.”
Ms O’Neill did not address points raised by Mr Spain and Arthur Cox that there is no such entity as DET Ltd.
Ms O’Neill argued that Dublin City Council “erred in its decision to deem my submission invalid”.
The appeals board, which had a target date of April 14th to make a decision, has given the green for the proposal more than a month ahead of schedule.
In its ruling, the board ruled that the plan would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or detract from the retail primacy of the area.
