Residents in Clontarf gathered this afternoon to protest and voice their concerns over a proposal to build over 500 homes in the area.
Marlet is seeking permission to develop 104 houses and 432 apartments on land at St. Paul’s College, Raheny.
Locals believe such a development would destroy the environmental integrity of the area, while a number of sports clubs who use the facility will also be adversely affected.
Senator Aodhán O'Ríordáin says it's already affected the community "We basically have local sports teams who have been evicted from the pitches since the end of December. It's important to realise when communities come together they can stop unwanted development."
According to Senator O'Ríordáin "There's any amount of appropriately zoned land around the city that myself, and other public representatives and Councillors have been calling to be developed to aid with the housing problems that we have."
He added "This is not zoned for housing, these particular lands are zoned for institutional use including recreational use. These are pitches that local clubs are using. This will not aid the housing crisis."
"We absolutely need more housing. We want it on appropriately zoned land. This is not housing for land. These pitches were actually given to the Vincentian Order from Dublin City Council back in the 50's. They've sold them off to a private developer and the local community are horrified."
