A judge has put a stop to a redevelopment at one of the State's most famous ballrooms of romance which once boasted its own cable car lifts and tea rooms high in Co Wicklow.
Mr Justice Kearns said the Eagle's Nest dine and dance complex on Bray Head was now a virtual ruin.
He accepted an undertaking by its new owners, Denis and Mary O'Sullivan, that they would refrain from further refurbishing the premises until the High Court decided whether the work they were carrying out was an exempt development or required planning permission.
Mr Damien Keaney, for Bray Urban Council, said the local authority believed certain works to the residence attached to the ballroom and tea rooms required planning permission. He said Bray Head was considered an area of exceptional scenic beauty and the council was seeking an order to restrain further development.
Mr John Gibbons SC, for the O'Sullivans, of the Eagle's Nest, Newcourt Road, Bray Head, said the dispute hinged on the interpretation as to what development was exempt from planning permission regulations.
Exempt development was clearly precluded in areas of special amenity but Bray Head had as yet not been designated as such.
The local authority indicated it would study whether the area was a special amenity.
Mr Justice Kearns set a date in October for the hearing of the action.