Lancefort Ltd marked Bloomsday yesterday by calling on the Garda to prosecute those responsible for the demolition of a house in Dublin associated with James Joyce.
Number two Millbourne Avenue, Drumcondra was one of the many houses in the city where Joyce lived and it featured in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It was demolished illegally on November 22nd last.
Dublin Corporation initiated enforcement proceedings against the owners, MX Systems Ltd, resulting in a court order which restrains them from carrying out any development on the site without planning permission.
But Mr Michael Smith, one of Lancefort's directors, said yesterday that this did not go far enough and he warned that the company would initiate a private prosecution if the Garda declined to act in the matter.
Mr Smith delivered a letter to the Garda station in Whitehall formally requesting that action be taken. It noted that the demolition of a habitable house was in breach of both housing and planning legislation.
"We note that a fine of up to £1 million is payable under the 1992 Local Government (Planning and Development) Act in such circumstances and that a prison sentence of up to two years may be imposed," the letter said.
Mr Smith said Lancefort believed Dublin Corporation had failed to prosecute those responsible for the demolition on the basis that it was a first offence and that it would be almost impossible to reinstate the house.
However, he understood that all the demolition rubble from the site at Millbourne Avenue had been acquired by a barrister with an interest in Joyce, "so the material required to reinstate the building still exists".
Mr Smith said Lancefort - set up by prominent conservationists to fight high-profile planning cases - was concerned that the legal advice available to the Corporation in the area of planning enforcement was "excessively cautious".
"If the Corporation receives the same legal advice in the case of Archer's garage, no sanctions will be taken," he said.
Archer's, a List 1 building on Fenian Street, was demolished over the June bank holiday weekend.
He said a prosecution could be taken for offences against the planning code up to five years after they happened.
