Some Travellers have moved off a site adjoining Booterstown marsh and bird sanctuary in Dublin. They moved on to the site last February on the day the site's owner, Ashcastle Developments, withdrew an application for planning permission for a residential development.
The presence of the Travellers drew protests from An Taisce, which owns the bird sanctuary. Local residents also objected.
Ashcastle Developments said in a statement on March 4th last that it was concerned about the presence of the Travellers and that it was taking steps to ensure they left the site.
In recent weeks, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council threatened legal proceedings against Ashcastle if it did not take steps to remove the Travellers.
Yesterday afternoon, The Irish Times left a message on the answering machine of Mr Frank Looby, Ashcastle's Bray-based company secretary, asking for clarification of the issue.
The Irish Times also telephoned Ashcastle's solicitors, Neville Murphy & Co, in Bray, but the partners dealing with the company's affairs had left the office.
A member of the legal firm's staff later rang The Irish Times on behalf of Mr Looby to say he was unable to provide clarification as Ashcastle's legal advisers were not available.
He said Mr Looby wanted to stress that he was not refusing to comment on the issue.
A residents' association spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, said there were four or five caravans left on the site and nobody knew whether those who had left would be coming back.
The controversy began when Ashcastle Developments applied to build apartments on a site opposite the Doyle Tara Tower Hotel.
The site is separated from the sea by the DART line. The marsh and bird sanctuary separates it from Booterstown DART station.
The move was strongly opposed by the local residents' association, which does not want the sea view obscured.
Ashcastle withdrew its planning application to Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council last February. An application to Dublin Corporation (part of the site is within its boundaries) was withdrawn later.
While residents say the Travellers moved in on the day the application was withdrawn, Ashcastle has strongly denied having anything to do with this and said it was anxious, from the beginning, to have the Travellers moved off as quickly as possible.
A Traveller on the site, Mr Edward Cash, told The Irish Times he had spotted it when moving from Tallaght to Bray and had opened the gate himself.
An Taisce has complained that the adjoining marsh and bird sanctuary is being threatened by the dumping of rubbish, over a boundary wall, by the Travellers.
The National Trust in Northern Ireland is to help An Taisce to upgrade the sanctuary this summer.
According to the statement issued in March by Ashcastle Developments, "it is the policy of our company not to cause inconvenience or distress to the residents of the Booterstown area.
"Ultimately, we would like to secure planning permission for a modest residential development on the site in a manner which would be acceptable to local residents and which would ensure the preservation and extension of the marshlands for the future."