The High Court has refused Sean Rooney leave to seek judicial review over the inclusion of Sminver Bridge on Donegal County Council’s Record of Protected Structures, holding that the challenge was brought too late.
In a judgment delivered on 3 April 2019, Mr Justice Max Barrett said the disused railway bridge at Carrickboy, Ballyshannon, had been added to the county record in 2006. The proceedings, begun in June 2018, sought to challenge that addition and events surrounding a proposed further listing in 2017.
The Council had included the bridge in a 2017 project to add about 145 structures. After Mr Rooney’s solicitors queried why it was being listed again, the Council acknowledged an error, withdrew the bridge from that exercise and confirmed that the 2006 listing remained in place.
The judge said the Council’s 2017 proposal had been withdrawn and “that is the end of matters”. He also noted that the bridge had been understood to be on the record and that Mr Rooney had campaigned after 2006 for its removal. The court concluded that the proceedings were out of time whether the challenge was directed at the 2006 addition or any reviewable step in 2017.
The judge added that, even apart from timing, the application did not show the substantial grounds required for leave under section 50A of the Planning and Development Act 2000. He said evidence before the court showed that representations had been made by or for Mr Rooney before the 2006 addition, contrary to his contention that he had been denied an opportunity to address the Council. He also said a property’s omission from a development plan did not undo its inclusion on the protected structures record. The judge expressly said these observations were obiter because the time issue was sufficient to dispose of the application.
Leave was refused. The court made no costs order in the judgment; it said the parties would be heard on costs. The judge also expressed disappointment that Mr Rooney’s statement of grounds had not fully set out the background and noted that the court could depart from the usual costs measure, including by ordering solicitor-and-client costs. The source does not state what costs order, if any, was later made.