When you draw the ire of the wider U2 family, you face the wrath of an entire musical-industrial complex. Last week Overheard reported how fashion designer John Rocha had objected to plans by a developer to build four new houses in the grounds of Montebello, a protected structure near his home on Killiney Hill Road in south Dublin.
Last week a flurry of other objections arrived, including several from family members and friends of U2. Ali Hewson, who lives with her husband, Bono, in a historic pile on nearby Vico Road, joined Rocha in opposing the plans by Covelo Developments for four contemporary-style houses in the grounds of the 19th-century home, which she claims will be “significantly out of character with the prevailing architectural styles of the surrounding properties”.
She claims the development could “significantly alter the character” of the setting and criticised the removal of “mature trees” from the site.
“In addition, it is clearly the intention of the applicant to apply for further additional development in closer proximity to Montebello House, and we are concerned that this is only a part of a wider scheme to take over the site with an inappropriate housing density,” she said.
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Identical objections were filed by several other locals associated with the band, including Morleigh Steinberg, a choreographer married to U2 guitarist The Edge, who lives next to Montebello; Guggi, an artist and long-time friend of U2 who lives nearby; and Chantal O’Sullivan, an antiques dealer and close friend of Hewson who also lives in Killiney.
The planning supergroup are also concerned about more routine matters, such as an increase in traffic and extra pressure on the local sewer system.
“We note that the houses each have six bathrooms, which would amount to 24 bathrooms overall, which is a significant increase in the loads into the system,” they warned rather ominously.
Mairead Ronan’s stamina being tested by Waterford planning
Television presenter Mairead Ronan lives in Clontarf on the northside of Dublin with her moneybags husband, Louis, whose family veterinary business in Co Tipperary made a fortune from testing kits for mad cow disease.
The broadcaster recently hung up her tracksuit, stepping down after almost a decade presenting Ireland’s Fittest Family. Perhaps she was hoping to spend more time at the couple’s holiday home in Dunmore East, which they have been trying to renovate and extend for the past year.
Alas, it would be easier to traverse a muddy obstacle course than overcome the strict planning conditions associated with the protected structure. They have been told by Waterford County Council that their plans to more than double the size of the period home could have a “negative impact on the streetscape and the wider architectural conservation area”.
They have been told to go back to the drawing board and submit revised proposals reducing the scale and “massing” of their plans. The whole project is becoming a bit of an endurance test.
New recruit for Collison brothers’ think tank
The latest pointy head to join Progress Ireland, the think tank backed by billionaire brothers Patrick and John Collison, is Dr Ed Walsh, the founding president of University of Limerick. The think tank, whose backers also include entrepreneur Brian Kingham and Intercom founder Nick Scroxton, was set up by the tech bros to find solutions to issues such as the red tape holding up housing development and Ireland’s over-reliance on foreign multinationals.
Walsh introduced the concept of universities co-operating with industry in designing courses and making graduates more employable but some of his views haven’t aged as well. In 2005 he suggested that overly generous State benefits were prompting a rise in the number of lone parents leading to “high levels of substance abuse, rape, child abuse and other unpleasant social phenomena”.
Conor Clarkson’s losing business streak
Property developer and racehorse owner Conor Clarkson is best known for owning the 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kicking King. But in his business affairs, he has backed a string of losers in recent years.
Last year Clarkson was jailed for 15 months after being convicted of forging documents for the sale of property that was being used to pay off his debt to a bank, while earlier this year a property firm applied to the High Court seeking to make him bankrupt.
While Clarkson’s name used to be a regular sight in the Racing Post, last week it popped up in that publication where nobody wants to feature: Stubbs Gazette.
Grenke, which supplies liquidity to small- and medium-sized businesses, registered a judgment for €69,537 against him.
Scandi Noir in the High Court
How do judges kick back after a long day on the bench? High Court judge Richard Humphreys seems to be a fan of Nordic crime dramas.
Ruling last week that an error in a report concerning the location of a bat in a barn outside Ennis, Co Clare, was not sufficient grounds to halt a contentious data centre, the judge began his written judgment: “The Bat in Building 6C could be an episode title in a Scandi Noir series. But it describes our subject here.”
Justin Barrett continues his struggle over National Party reins
The tug of war over the leadership of the National Party and its gold bullion continues between Justin Barrett and James Reynolds.
Last year the Electoral Commission ruled that Barrett could not be removed as an authorised officer of the party because Reynolds’s faction didn’t give enough notice of a meeting of the party’s National Directorate that voted to oust Barrett.
Earlier this month Reynolds and his supporters met again to remove Barrett as an authorised officer of the party and to change the address of the party’s accounting unit from Barrett’s home in Longford to Mespil House, Sussex Road, in Dublin 4.
But the squabbling isn’t over yet. Last week Hitler fanboy Barrett lobbed in an appeal, a request that is “now under consideration”, according to the Electoral Commission.
Irish liberal democracy shouldn’t be losing too much sleep over the outcome.
