House may be built at lower height

The Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council has said he believes that the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, and his wife will now be able to build their holiday home to a lower height than specified in the original planning permission on foot of yesterday's High Court ruling.

Cllr Seán Beirne said he believed that the implication of yesterday's ruling was that the house could be built some two metres lower than set out in the original planning permission.

However, sources close to the council suggested that the local authority could still institute enforcement proceedings when the house was completed if it believed that it was in breach of the original planning permission.

The construction of the holiday home to a lower height than originally approved was one of the reasons behind the decision by Roscommon County Council last autumn to refuse to grant an extension of planning permission to allow the house to be completed.

The council had also raised objections to the "finish" of the house, although the contractors had said that this would be identical to the planning permission.

Mr McDowell and his wife, Prof Niamh Brennan, successfully challenged the refusal by Roscommon County Council to extend planning permission for the house in the High Court before Christmas. Yesterday, the court allowed the couple a further three months to carry out works on the house at Lavagh, near Rooskey.

A spokesman for Mr McDowell said that the Minister had no comment on the judgment.

Cllr Beirne said it was likely that the county council would discuss the issue of the house when the matter was no longer sub judice.