When John Rocha bought a period pile on Killiney Hill Road last year, the 71-year-old was probably looking forward to the quiet life. Carrickmoleen, dating from the 1800s, came with sprawling gardens, greenhouses and fruit trees – ideal for a keen gardener such as the fashion designer.
However, Rocha’s tranquillity has been interrupted by work in the grounds of a nearby property, Montebello House. Rocha and his wife, Odette, last week filed an objection to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council over plans by Covelo Developments Ltd to build four new houses in the grounds of the neighbouring protected structure.
The couple are particularly aggrieved by the removal of trees around Montebello House by Covelo Developments.
A planning consultant hired by the Rochas claims the developer removed “a substantial amount” of mature trees in a “cynical and unnecessary” manner before applying for planning permission.
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“It appears that no licences were sought to fell the trees, and we call on the council to ensure the mature trees removed are replanted as part of compensatory replanting under the Forestry Act 2014,” their objection states.
The Rochas, who previously lived in Leeson Park in Ranelagh, are also concerned that the proposal for four houses on the site is a “Trojan horse” for further development as Covelo has previously indicated it is interested in building apartments on the grounds of Montebello House, which it bought last year for more than €4 million. The couple argue this will erode the historic nature of the protected structure.
Their concerns are echoed by several other locals, including entrepreneur and tech investor Philip Gannon.
Covelo Developments is owned by Sean Keegan, a son of Castleknock builder and codirector Laurence Keegan, most famous for bulldozing the 18th-century Presentation College in Terenure without planning permission early on a Saturday morning in 2006.
Olivia O’Leary wants to save the snails
Also fighting to retain the tranquillity of their local area is Olivia O’Leary. In 2019, the broadcaster won a long-running battle against plans by Waterways Ireland to turn the Barrow Towpath into a blueway – a track suitable for cycling – stretching from Lowtown in Co Kildare to St Mullins in Co Carlow.
O’Leary, who lives in Co Carlow, is now trying to block plans by Waterways Ireland to carry out repairs and “strengthening works” to the banks of the Barrow, as well as some upgrades to the trackway surface along the riverbank.
Last week O’Leary, on behalf of the Save the Barrow Line Committee, appealed against the plans to An Bord Pleanála, saying there was no need to use rock armour to strengthen the banks and that “soft engineering solutions have been too readily dismissed” by Waterways Ireland.
She also claims that the planned upgrade to parts of the track is almost identical to what was proposed under the blueway plan and points out that the work could threaten a population of Desmoulin’s whorl snails, a protected species.
WHO gets flak for anti-shamrock-wetting stance
The World Health Organisation (WHO) was accused of a spot of Paddy-bashing last week when it posted on social media about “a fun alternative to the St Patrick’s Day beer”. The organisation included a link to a video about Johnny and Daniel, two Irish men who had given up partying.
“Eh, I think this is racist, WHO. An apology is in order,” replied An Post chief executive David McRedmond on social media network X (formerly Twitter), although the health body didn’t respond or remove the post. Perhaps they were too busy enjoying a tipple.
Cork City owner’s clever K Club move
Businessman Dermot Usher said last year that he had invested €1.4 million in Cork City FC since buying the Leesiders in December 2022. The former chief executive of Sonas bathrooms may have raised some of the investment through a clever property play last year.
Until recently Usher lived at 3 Churchfields in The K Club, the former home of racehorse trainer Vincent O’Brien. At 582sq m, the five-bedroom property is one of the largest in The K Club.
Usher paid €2.825 million for the house in 2020 but sold it last year for €6 million, more than doubling his money in four years. He subsequently bought 10A Churchfields, a slightly smaller house a few doors away, for €3 million. That’s enough left over for a decent new striker.
Ryanair enters the culture wars with glee
Michael O’Leary had admitted in the past to floating outlandish ideas in the media to get cheap publicity such as his wheeze about charging people to use the bathroom on Ryanair flights.
He will probably be delighted by a nonbinary person suing Ryanair for €5,000 in damages because the airline’s website did not provide a gender-neutral title for a flight booking. The story has made headlines in Germany, where the customer took the complaint after discovering while booking a return flight from Berlin to Gran Canaria that the only options available were Herr (Mr), Frau (Mrs) or Fräulein (Miss).
The complaint will be heard by the Berlin state court after Ryanair refused to reach an out-of-court settlement. No wonder, given all the free publicity the case is likely to generate when it’s heard later this year.
Where have I seen that University Challenge team captain before?
University Challenge viewers saw Christ’s College, Cambridge, reach the semi-final earlier this month after a victory over the University of Warwick. The team captain responding to Amol Rajan’s questions may have rung a bell for some people in Ireland.
Five years ago Oscar Despard from Dublin, who recently finished his undergraduate studies in Cambridge and is now tackling a PhD, won the top prize at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition for a project entitled Applying Data-Driven Experimental Analysis to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.
As if that wouldn’t make you feel inadequate enough in your academic prowess, a few months later the then Sandford Park student was back in the headlines after getting the joint highest Leaving Cert results in the country – 9 H1s.
