Judicial review begins on Hell Fire Club €22m tourism plans
By Aimee Walsh
A JUDICIAL review has begun to decide whether approval of the proposed €22m tourism development at the Hell Fire Club will be overturned.
An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission to South Dublin County Council in June 2020 for the project, which will aim to turn the Hellfire Club and Massy’s Wood in Rathfarnham into a tourism location.
An artist impression of the Hell Fire Club €22m tourism development plan
The plans include the development of a visitor centre with an exhibition space, a panoramic café, toilets, changing facilities, a walkers’ lounge, an education centre and retail at the Hellfire Club, and a treetop canopy walk connecting the centre with Massy’s Wood.
A group opposing the plans, Save the Hellfire, supported by local residents and farmers, and environmentalists, have called the plans a “vanity project” which will destroy the green space and natural beauty of the Dublin mountains.
To date, a petition for the campaign to ‘Save the Hell Fire’ has almost 20,000 signatures.
The review began on Tuesday, June 8 and will last for three days, with the result expected sometime in July.
