Eight alleged mosques activity to be investigated
SOUTH Dublin County Council are to investigate “alleged unauthorised activity” at eight mosques or Muslim cultural centres in Lucan and Clondalkin.
It follows an enforcement file opened recently in relation to a mosque in Lucan, which is allegedly operating despite planning permission being refused 15 years ago.
The applicant in that case at Liffey Road, Lucan, is the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI), whose headquarters are in Clonskeagh.
Cllr Linda de Courcy (Ind Ire), who was initially contacted by a resident who had difficulty in selling her home at Liffey Road due to high volumes of men at prayer times, has since discovered further mosques in the area allegedly operating without planning permissions.
“It is shocking that planning was denied 15 years ago and yet there was no enforcement, did nobody complain?,” said Cllr De Courcy.
In response to Cllr De Courcy, SDCC confirmed that no planning permission applications have been submitted to operate as a mosque or Muslim cultural centre at eight locations in Lucan and Clondalkin.
In Lucan, these include the Minhaj Centre, Dublin (Minhaj ul Quran International Ireland), 6 Trinity Court, Ballyowen, Lucan Islamic Centre of Ireland, Newlands Road, Balgaddy, Masjid mosque, 70 Earlsfort Road, Ballyowen, Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Ireland, Fforster Walk, Ballyowen, and a site called Mosque, 7 Castlegate Drive, Adamstown.
Clondalkin sites include Alkhidmah Community Mosque, 3 Ninth Lock Road, Ballymanaggin, IMCC (Irish Muslim Cultural Centre), Ballymanaggin, and Bait Al Hamd Mosque, Unit A2, Station Road Business Park, Ballymanaggin.
SDCC said the planning authority will investigate alleged unauthorised activity at the locations outlined in Cllr De Courcy’s representation.
The Lucan Islamic Centre of Ireland is a subsidiary of South Dublin Maktab Limited.
They received planning approval from SDCC and An Bord Pleanala to build a mosque and community centre in 2020 at a site on Newlands Road, Balgaddy.
An objection by Balgaddy Working Together Community Group acknowledged the need to cater for the Lucan Islamic community, but cited concerns about traffic and height of the proposed structure.
The residents group submission, containing nine pages of signatures from Foxdene residents, said the site holds services that bring 250-300 into the area on Friday, with cars parked on grass verges, open green spaces, and throughout Foxdene estate causing major traffic disruption and safety concerns.
Cllr De Courcy has forwarded a Motion for the next monthly council meeting requesting they revoke planning permission granted to South Dublin Maktab Ltd in 2020 “in light of the fact they have been running and publicly advertising both a mosque and Islamic centre without the required planning permission.”
