The High Court has refused a residents’ group permission to appeal its unsuccessful challenge to planning approval for the Seskin wind energy development.
Stephen Keogh, Tom Quirke and Rural Residents Wind Aware and Environmental Group had sought to overturn a November 2025 decision of An Coimisiún Pleanála granting permission to EDF Renewables Ireland Limited.
Their judicial review proceedings were dismissed by Mr Justice Humphreys on May 29, 2026. They then sought permission to appeal on a specific question about section 5.13 of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines and whether it sets minimum separation distances between turbines within a single wind farm.
In the July 10 ruling, Humphreys J refused that application.
The judge held that section 5.13 must be read in context. It concerns “windtake” and protecting the development potential of adjoining land for another wind energy project. In this case, there was no permitted, proposed or identified adjoining wind farm to which that provision would apply.
The court also noted that the guidelines are not binding rules. They require planning authorities to have regard to them, while the wording on turbine spacing itself is expressed in general terms.
EDF’s environmental impact assessment had separately considered turbine spacing, wake effects, noise and other constraints. The final seven-turbine layout was developed through several design iterations and modelled using industry-standard wind farm software.
The judge said the applicants had not produced evidence showing that this approach was technically defective or that his interpretation of the guidelines was creating wider practical problems.
Crucially, the proposed appeal point would not change the result. The principal judgment contained several independent reasons for refusing to quash the permission, including the non-binding nature of the guidelines and the applicants’ failure to establish defects in the environmental assessment.
The leave application was dismissed. Unless the Supreme Court grants direct leave to appeal, there will be no order for costs. The original dismissal of the judicial review proceedings is to be perfected as the final High Court order.