A Dublin barrister claimed during a Fingal County Council hearing yesterday he and his wife had been forced from their home for the third time by the actions of youths in an adjoining lane.
For the past three weeks Mr Harry Connolly BL and his wife Pauline have been living in his 390-square foot office in Patrick Street, Dublin, while their four-bedroomed home on Strand Road in Portmarnock lies empty.
Yesterday's oral hearing regarding the extinguishing of a right of way was held before independent inspector Mr Declan O'Driscoll to determine whether the lane between Strand Road and Blackberry Rise should be closed, as is sought by the Connollys and some neighbours, but opposed by other residents.
Mr Connolly said the lane had always been a source of disturbance. By the mid-80s and early 90s the situation had worsened, with people "drinking, urinating, defecating dogs, litter, drugs . . . "
Things were stolen from the garden shed and his gardens were used for dumping. Since Mr Connolly and his wife returned there in December 1997 the situation had deteriorated, he said. In June 1998 the council put up posters locally giving notice the lane would be closed if there were no objections.
Listing many attempts to get gardai to do something about the situation, Mr Connolly said he and his wife moved out on March 17th last year for the first time. They stayed away two days to sleep. They moved out again, for similar reasons, on May 17th and, from May 23rd, decided to stay away altogether at weekends.
They returned to the house for New Year. There were 25 in the lane that night. It set the pattern. They moved out on January 31st and have not been home.
Mrs Pauline Connolly estimated, from monitoring the traffic in the lane over five full days from September to November 1998, that there are 50 bona fide regular users of the lane. She dismissed a count conducted for the council on January 20th, 1999. It said there were 233 users.
She believes residents knew the count was taking place. She noted the same youth used the laneway 10 times that day. One woman did so wearing three different coats, and number of people walked the same dog through the lane.
The Connollys were supported in their claims by daughter Sharon, son John, and residents Mr Tom Brogan, and Mr Joe Rogers. Mr Connolly criticised the Save the Lane Action Group, set up last summer. It organised a petition which collected 646 objections to closing the lane. (Signatories supporting its closure in another petition numbered 111).
Mrs Catherine Kearney said she became aware of plans to close the lane through council notices. She has lived in the area 22 years, reared five children there, and never experienced any problems. She was "gobsmacked" when she read the notices. She "never knew of anything in the lane", which she and her family use every day.
Her reaction while listening to Mr Connolly was: "My God, this is like Beirut". She wondered why there were not 12 or 13 "for sale" signs up there if things were so bad. There are none. There were similar contributions from other residents and a supporting written submission from Mr Aidan Punch.
The inspector, Mr O'Driscoll, said he would prepare a recommendation when he read a transcript of the proceedings. Mr Dermot Flanagan, for the council, said the recommendation would be forwarded to the councillors who would decide the issue.
