Council approves 193 unit housing scheme in Kinsealy despite local opposition
The Council has granted planning permission to the LDA after concluding that the scheme 'would provide a high quality new residential area and would be an excellent example of plan-led development'.
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The 49-page Council planner's report into the proposed Large-Scale Residential Development (LRD) also found that the scheme 'thoroughly conforms to the planning framework provided for the area'.
The Council also concluded that the scheme 'provides a satisfactory standard for residential amenity, would be acceptable in terms of urban design and quantum of development'.
The LDA lodged the plans in February after Teagasc agreed to transfer the lands to the LDA for the development of affordable housing in accordance with the LDA's statutory mandate to accelerate the delivery of affordable new homes throughout Ireland.
The scheme comprises the construction of 193 residential dwellings comprising 153 two-storey houses and 40 duplex units arranged in three-storey blocks on a site located to the south of Kinsealy village centre and 4 km south-east of Swords.
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The scheme also provides for 229 car parking spaces, 345 bicycle parking spaces and four acres of dedicated public open space while in addition, 5.4 acres of greenbelt zoned lands are included to the south and south-east of the residential development area to accommodate a playing pitch.
However, in response to the scheme, on behalf of the Kinsealy and Chapel Road Community Organisation, Sean Crawford told the council that "building more houses is not just the answer - it's about creating sustainable communities that can truly thrive".
He said that building the scheme without a comprehensive vision 'will ultimately increase strain on current residents and diminish the quality of life throughout the growing communities of Fingal'.
Mr Crawford stated that the proposed three-story duplexes fundamentally violate the area's rural character and objectives of the Fingal Development Plan which explicitly safeguard rural aesthetics and require appropriate density and scale.
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In his objection, David Bent from Gandon Lane, Kinsealy contended: 'While I appreciate the need for new housing and development in our area, I have serious concerns regarding the lack of supporting infrastructure, which would significantly impact the safety and well-being of current and future residents.'
He said: 'The local schools are already operating at or near full capacity. This development would place additional pressure on these institutions, limiting access to quality education for families moving into the area."
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He does not remember much about Tuam: 'There was a high wall all around, so we couldn't see anything. We were allowed out just to go to school, ten minutes late in the morning and ten minutes early in the evening because we weren't allowed to mix with the other kids. Then we were marched back in again to the prison.' His mother, Eileen, became pregnant with him in 1951, age 26. She went to the local priest for help but the reaction from the Catholic Church was one of stigma, not mercy. Her experience was far from unique. The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland found in 2021 that there were approximately 56,000 unmarried mothers and 57,000 children in the homes across Ireland between 1922 to 1998, when the last of the institutions closed. Almost 15 per cent of all children in the institutions were found to have died — around 9,000. Micheál Martin, the Irish taoiseach, apologised, saying: 'The most striking thing is the shame felt by women who became pregnant outside of marriage and the stigma that was so cruelly attached to their children. 'I apologise for the profound generational wrong visited upon Irish mothers and their children who ended up in a mother and baby home or a county home. As the commission says plainly, 'They should not have been there.'' Haverty explained how shame came knocking for his mother: 'The priest said she was to be kept indoors till the baby was due to be born, and she wasn't to enter the house of God, that's the church, because she was a sinner.' Eileen was taken to the Tuam baby home to give birth and lived there for 12 months, after which she was told to leave by the nuns. She was not allowed to take her baby son with her, though she desperately wanted to, but was expected to pay five shillings a week for his upkeep. 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Daniel MacSweeney, 51, a former aid worker and Red Cross solicitor, has led the work with a team of forensic scientists and archaeologists from around the world, in order to prepare the site for Monday's breaking of the ground. The excavation is expected to take two years to complete. 'Survivors have been waiting a long time for answers and this marks the shift from looking and prepping to finally doing,' MacSweeney said. But he cautioned that there is no way of predicting what they will find over the course of the dig: 'For many survivors and family members it's a time of heightened emotion — they are pleased we are moving ahead but it brings into view lots of questions that may or may not be answered.' Anna Corrigan, 68, was not aware of the Tuam mother and baby home until she was in her fifties and became more interested in her family's history. With the help of Barnardo's children's charity, she discovered around Christmas time 2012 that she had two half-brothers, who had both been born in the mother and baby home. 'I had some vague recollection of an argument my mother had with a family member about her having sons but I thought it was a dream,' she said. 'But once I get a bone between my teeth, I'm like a dog.' Through her own research she uncovered that her mother, Bridget Dolan, who died in 2001, had two sons: John Desmond Dolan, born February 22, 1946, and William Joseph Dolan, born May 21, 1950. Beyond their birth certificates, the documentation Corrigan found is sparse, leaving her with more questions than answers. At his birth, John was recorded as weighing 8lb 9oz and healthy. When he died at just 14 months old, the cause of death was given as measles. His notes also said he was a 'congenital idiot' and 'emaciated'. She believes it is evidence her brothers were mistreated in Tuam. 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