A group of residents yesterday secured a High Court order stopping work on a £1.2 million halting site in Finglas.
The site is intended to house 11 Traveller families from another site at Mulhuddart, Co Dublin, which was the scene of disturbances two weeks ago.
Meakstown Residents' Association (MRA) was granted an interlocutory injunction restraining Fingal County Council from continuing its proposed development of a halting site adjacent to Meakstown Cottages, Co Dublin.
Mr Justice Kinlen said the matter should be mentioned before the President of the High Court next Thursday in the hope that the legal proceedings brought by the MRA would be heard before the end of July.
The judge was told the council's manager decided on March 21st to develop the Meakstown site following a High Court decision that the Travellers at another site at Cruiserath, Mulhuddart, be relocated.
Mr Ross Maguire, for the MRA, read an affidavit by Mr Derek Byrne, Meakstown Cottages. He said the first consultation by the council with residents about the development was on May 21st. They were told the order had been made two months previously and the development was going ahead.
Mr Maguire said the council contravened its development plan by not consulting the MRA.
Spending more that £1.2 million to accommodate 11 Traveller families would suggest the Meakstown site was more than just an emergency site.
Mr James Macken SC, for the council, said there was clear authority for the existence of an emergency situation. The county manager had concluded that there was an emergency situation. Otherwise the Travellers would be on the side of the road, he said.