‘Someone will be killed there’ – concern over Hellfire Club area
By Brendan Grehan
“SOMEONE will be killed on Cruagh Road”, Councillor Emma Murphy told the members of South Dublin Council during their monthly meeting this week.
Cllr Murphy was speaking during a briefing on the submission made by the council to An Bord Pleanála (ABP) on the proposed Dublin Mountain Visitor Centre at the Hellfire Club.
Artist’s impression of the Hellfire Visitor Centre
Cllr Murphy said the Hellfire Club was “on her doorstep” and said visitors to the Hellfire Club park along the road which is a country road.
She said: “A lot of cyclists use the road. Someone is going to be killed on that road.” Cllr Murphy said some form of infrastructure was needed in the area.
Councillor Madeleine Johansson told the meeting that she found it “interesting” that the matter was being discussed in the chamber for the first time since the local elections.
The proposed Dublin Mountains Visitor Centre is a joint development by South Dublin County Council, Coillte and the Dublin Mountains Partnership to create a new “gateway” to the Dublin Mountains located at the combined Massy’s Wood /Estate and Montpelier Hill incorporating the Hellfire Club site.
An Oral Hearing on the centre was held in November 2018, and following the hearing ABP requested further information.
The meeting heard that consultants working on behalf of the council carried out additional bird surveys and the information was submitted to ABP on December 24 last.
A council official told the meeting that he did not have a timeline for when ABP will make their decision. He said it could be “perhaps at the end of the first quarter of 2020”.
