An illustration of the planned development at the former Central Mental Hospital site in Dundrum, which has been held up for two years by legal challenges. Judicial reviews, once a key check on major planning decisions, have become a weapon of delay, not justice. Legal challenges, often taken on the thinnest of grounds, can hold up a project for years, sometimes killing them entirely. Too often, it’s less about protecting nature than about using the legal system as a stage for personal crusades. In tandem, the bar for judicial reviews needs to be raised and all parties need to be at risk of incurring costs.

Source: The Irish Times October 27, 2025 22:42 UTC