Kerry County Council has failed in its attempt to get a Kerry TD to remove advertising signage from the gable of his property.
Under planning and development acts, the council had sought the removal of a 4.8m-wide sign from the gable of Independent deputy Michael Healy-Rae’s house in Gortnaboul, Kilgarvan.
The case came before Killarney Circuit Civil Court yesterday.
The sign, which was erected in 2011, promotes Michael’s Healy-Rae’s attributes as a TD and gives contact information.
When the council’s application first came before the court, an enforcement officer claimed the sign on the building adjacent to the R569 was a distraction to road users.
The officer said the sign didn’t have permission and should be removed; Deputy Healy-Rae disputed the council’s claim, saying it was a “demountable sign” and a previous version existed when his father was a TD for Kerry South.
He also rejected that the sign was a traffic hazard and a distraction.
Judge Terence O’Sullivan, finding in Michael Healy-Rae’s favour, said the council acted too late, over the seven-year cut off period.
He awarded the TD’s legal team two-thirds of their costs.
Speaking afterward, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae welcomed the court’s decision, adding he believed a complaint to the council which had helped to initiate the proceedings was politically motivated.
Meanwhile, a separate application by the council to force Deputy Danny Healy-Rae to remove a sign over his pub on Main Street, Kilgarvan, was adjourned.
