Save Malahide castle woodland.

27/10/2026

WHAT CAN YOU DO? MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD AND DEMAND ANSWERS.

The response to the recent posts has made one thing very clear: this is no longer just about New Street in Malahide.

Residents from Portmarnock, Swords, Donabate, Portrane, Rush, Lusk, Skerries, Balbriggan, Balrothery and Clongriffin are raising many of the same concerns about consultation, transparency, accountability, traffic impacts, infrastructure, active travel projects and whether local communities are genuinely being listened to.

If you are concerned about New Street, traffic displacement onto Sea Road and Yellow Walls Road, airport noise, the Portmarnock sewerage project, the disruption in Swords, or any other project affecting your community, don't just discuss it on social media.

Write directly to Fingal County Council Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly and copy your local Councillors, TDs and Senators.

Under Fingal County Council's Citizen's Charter, correspondence should be acknowledged within 3 working days, and formal complaints should receive a response within 15 working days.

Chief Executive: [email protected]

Complaints Officer: [email protected]

Citizen Charter & Complaints Procedure:
View Citizen Charter

This approach was successfully used during the Malahide Castle Woodlands campaign. Residents contacted the Chief Executive directly, ensuring concerns reached the highest level within the Council. It also created a formal record showing that residents had raised issues and sought answers through every available channel.

Ask the questions:
Why were residents' concerns ignored?
How were submissions considered?
Why were Local Area Plans changed or disregarded?
Who made the key decisions?
What role did our elected representatives play?
How are the impacts on residents being measured?

Do not leave it to somebody else.

Send the email.

Copy your elected representatives.

Request a response.

Hold them accountable.

When one resident writes, it is a complaint. When hundreds write, it becomes a matter that can no longer be ignored.

26/10/2026

NEW STREET MALAHIDE: THE QUESTIONS FINGAL STILL REFUSES TO ANSWER

A number of people have asked who is behind these posts.

There is no committee, political party or commercial interest behind them. I am simply someone who has followed the New Street saga from the very beginning, attended meetings, reviewed documents, observed the court proceedings and witnessed first-hand the impact these decisions have had on Malahide and its residents.

The purpose of these posts is simple: to ask questions that have never been properly answered.

New Street did not begin as a €7 million public realm project. It began as a temporary Covid-era measure. Yet somehow that temporary arrangement evolved into a permanent redevelopment of the heart of Malahide.

The questions residents are entitled to ask are:

Who originally came up with the idea?
Who drove it forward within Fingal County Council?
Why was a temporary emergency measure allowed to become permanent?
Why were residents' concerns repeatedly dismissed?
Why was so much weight given to promotional material and visualisations while concerns about traffic, access, heritage and community impact were pushed aside?
Why were roads such as Sea Road, Yellow Walls Road and surrounding residential streets expected to absorb the consequences?
Why did residents have to resort to legal challenges simply to have their concerns heard?
Why does litigation continue years later at significant public expense?

Many people now believe that elected Councillors lost control of the process and that Council management pursued its own agenda regardless of public opposition. Whether that perception is fair or not, it is becoming increasingly widespread, and Fingal has done little to address it.

What is most striking from the response to recent posts is that this is no longer just a Malahide issue.

Residents in Portmarnock are raising concerns about the proposed sewerage infrastructure projects. People in Swords are questioning the disruption caused by major roadworks and Active Travel schemes. Communities in Donabate, Portrane, Rush, Lusk, Skerries, Balbriggan, Balrothery and Clongriffin are describing remarkably similar experiences regarding consultation, transparency and accountability.

The common thread running through all of these discussions is not opposition to development. It is the growing belief that communities are being consulted after decisions have effectively been made rather than before.

New Street remains the focus because it is a clear example of how a temporary measure became a permanent reality despite significant and sustained opposition. It raises important questions not just for Malahide, but for every community in Fingal.

Residents fund these projects through their taxes. Residents elect the Councillors. Residents live with the consequences.

Surely residents are entitled to know who made these decisions, why they were made, who benefited from them, and why so many concerns continue to be ignored.

The people of Malahide deserve answers. So do the people of Fingal.

25/10/2026

I think many residents across North County Dublin are beginning to see a pattern. Time and time again, controversial projects are presented by Fingal County Council using glossy brochures, attractive artist impressions, carefully selected images and promises of future benefits. The public is shown what the project will look like, but too often the real impacts on local communities, public amenities, traffic, green spaces, heritage and quality of life only emerge when residents dig into the detail.

We saw this with the Malahide Castle woodlands proposal in 2016. Many believed it was a done deal. However, local residents refused to accept the glossy narrative, organised themselves, challenged the proposal and ultimately succeeded through High Court action.

Today, communities face similar concerns regarding New Street, airport noise, the Portmarnock sewerage project, the Swords Road redevelopment and other projects throughout Fingal. Whether people agree or disagree on individual projects is not the point. The point is that residents deserve real consultation, not simply being presented with decisions after they have effectively been made.

The lesson from 2016 is clear. Individual voices can be ignored. Organised communities cannot.

Every town and village across North County Dublin should be forming active residents' groups, community action groups and campaign networks. Residents need to contact their local Councillors, TDs, Senators and community representatives and make it clear that they expect to be heard before decisions are made, not afterwards.

If we continue to fight these battles one community at a time, we will continue to be divided. If Malahide, Portmarnock, Swords, Donabate, Rush, Lusk and Skerries stand together on issues of transparency, consultation and accountability, our collective voice becomes impossible to ignore.

Democracy does not begin and end on election day. It requires residents to stay informed, get involved and hold decision-makers accountable.

The Malahide woodlands campaign proved that communities can make a difference when they stand together. It is time for residents across North County Dublin to do so again.

24/10/2026

What Do Malahide, Donabate, Skerries and Swords Have in Common? Different Towns.

Same Traffic Chaos. Businesses Harmed. The Same Accountability Questions.

Six points on planning, public funding and accountability in Fingal.

1. Planning obligations were not met
Fingal County Council did not provide Malahide with the Local Area Plan required by law. In April 2025, the High Court stated: “There is, therefore, an obligation to have a Local Area Plan (LAP) for Malahide – an obligation which has not been complied with.” The Court subsequently declared that Fingal had been in continuing breach of its statutory duty since approximately June 2020.

2. Millions in public funding
The National Transport Authority allocated millions of euro in public funding to Active Travel projects, including approximately €1.1 million annually for staffing. A basic question remains: who certified compliance with planning and statutory requirements before these funds were approved and spent?

3. Councillors stood aside
New Street proceeded despite the absence of the mandatory Local Area Plan. Residents repeatedly raised concerns, but the project continued. Legal representation was deployed against local citizens who were seeking compliance with the law.

4. Residents went to court—and won.
The High Court confirmed Fingal’s continuing breach of statutory duty. Yet the works were not stopped. Instead, residents watched as the project continued and the legislative landscape around it changed.

5. Road disruption and community conflict across Fingal
This is not only a Malahide issue. Across Fingal, communities are increasingly finding themselves in conflict with Council-led transport and road schemes. Swords faces continuing congestion and traffic disruption. Businesses in Malahide report reduced accessibility and customer access. Communities in Skerries and elsewhere have raised significant objections to similar projects. When controversy follows scheme after scheme, it points to a wider need for stronger planning, consultation and accountability.

6. Who is accountable?
There should be an independent investigation into planning compliance, funding certifications, delegated powers, public expenditure and all central Government grants associated with these projects.

The principle at stake
In January 2026, the Supreme Court stated: “Failure to comply with their statutory obligations can be excused only in cases of impossibility or some other wholly exceptional circumstances.” The public should not have to go to court to make public authorities obey the law.

The County Development Plan is intended to protect communities and provide a lawful framework for development. If statutory obligations can simply be ignored, those protections become meaningless.

Stop disputed works. Restore lawful planning. Demand accountability.

If you have been affected by road or transport schemes in Malahide, Swords, Skerries or elsewhere in Fingal, share your experience respectfully in the comments.

07/10/2026

A Malahide Morning.

07/10/2026

THEN AND NOW... The distribution of shore crab (Carcinus maenas) around the Irish coast has not changed since pre-2010. Explore Your Shore! has helped fill some gaps but this species is still found all around the Irish coast and is our most frequently recorded species. https://exploreyourshore.ie/ See less

Explore Your Shore! is a national survey of marine and coastal biodiversity to create a robust baseline dataset for intertidal plant and animal species in

06/10/2026

A little reminder of what you, the people, did- well done again. Can you spot yourself in the photos?

No to further development and commercialism of Malahide Castle Demesne

05/10/2026

A recent walk through the Castle grounds was a reminder of what makes Malahide so special. Seeing so many people enjoying the parklands, whether lifelong residents or newcomers, was heartening. Despite the vast amount of farmland that has been lost to housing over the years, the Castle demesne remains one of the last great public spaces where people of all ages can come together. Children play football on the open grass, families stroll the pathways, friends meet for a coffee, and people simply enjoy the peace and beauty of a unique historic landscape.

It demonstrated something important: population growth and change do not have to destroy community. New residents, just like previous generations before them, can become part of village life. The real issue is whether the spaces that allow communities to come together are protected or gradually sacrificed.

What concerns many people is that we are witnessing the steady erosion of those very assets. Public streets are increasingly being used for commercial purposes. Areas that should belong equally to everyone are becoming extensions of private business activity. The Castle grounds and parklands, which were gifted for public enjoyment, face growing commercial pressures. At the same time, our coastline is suffering visible erosion, our beaches are being worn away, and the natural environment that defines Malahide is under increasing strain.

These are not isolated issues. They are part of a wider shift away from the values that shaped Malahide: community before commerce, heritage before profit, and long-term stewardship before short-term gain. The danger is that each individual change may seem small, but together they gradually undermine the very character of the village.

Malahide's greatest asset has never been its commercial value. It has always been its people, its history, its parklands, its coastline, and its sense of community. Once those are compromised, they cannot easily be restored. That is why so many residents are concerned. They can see the changes happening in front of their eyes and fear that the qualities which made Malahide unique are being steadily diminished in the pursuit of commercial interests.

17/08/2026

Yet another reminder of how the Fry Railway was when it operated in the purpose-built, publicly funded building at Malahide Castle. (Now a commercial shop and cafe)

This is a section for an up and coming short documentary about the ...

05/07/2026

"Thanks for sharing such a detailed perspective! It is brilliant to hear from someone who grew up enjoying the grounds in the 70s and 80s, and we completely agree that the park, gardens, and general facilities have come on in leaps and bounds over the decades. It truly is a world-class amenity for Malahide.
We want to gently share some hard financial facts to clear up a very common misunderstanding regarding how these upgrades are actually paid for. The daily maintenance, castle renovations, and playgrounds do not rely on private concert revenues or commercial leases.
Fingal County Council is actually one of the best-funded local authorities in Ireland, with an official annual operating budget of €433 Million, alongside a separate €1.43 Billion Capital Programme. Within their annual budget, €85 Million is explicitly ring-fenced for Recreation, Amenities, and Parks. This massive pool of public money—funded by our Local Property Taxes and commercial business rates—is what fully secures and maintains our historic public spaces.
There is also a major difference between supporting a local village business and allowing private commercial exploitation of a public asset. For example, while many of us remember Avoca’s historic roots as an Irish family brand, it is now owned entirely by Aramark—a massive American multinational food service conglomerate with billions in global revenue. When global corporations take over massive, permanent footprints inside our public heritage buildings, it changes the dynamic from a community asset into a commercial profit-driving.
Because Malahide Castle is a protected historical site and a public parkland, it is tightly bound by statutory regulations and strict EU Environmental Directives to safeguard our local flora and fauna, including native woodlands and vital wildlife roosting habitats.
While we completely understand the comparison to the UK National Trust model, Ireland’s open-access model is something to be proud of. The core issue isn't about stopping progress; it's simply about ensuring a sustainable, lawful balance so that commercial infrastructure doesn't push out the local community and the vulnerable wildlife that depend on this natural sanctuary year-round