An Bord Pleanála has overruled Fingal County Council and its own planning inspector to grant permission to Eimear Haughey, daughter of former taoiseach Charles Haughey, for a new house in a greenbelt area at Kinsealy, Co Dublin.
One of the main reasons why the board decided to approve the flat-roofed two-storey house at Baskin Lane was that Ms Haughey - wife of horse trainer John Mulhearn - had demonstrated her "strong local family and business links to the area".
It concluded that the house - designed by Fitzpatrick Mays Architects - "would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would not be prejudicial to public health [ and] would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety".
The board said it took into account the location of the site, just over 300m off Malahide Road, between houses belonging to two of her brothers and near Kinsealy village, where the council's objective is to provide for local housing needs.
It also noted the Government's Sustainable Rural Housing guidelines, saying Ms Haughey "comes within the scope of the housing-need criteria as set out in the guidelines by reason of her strong local, family and business links to the area".
In a unanimous decision endorsed by its chairman, John O'Connor, the board said it did not consider itself constrained by the county council's contention that the proposed house would be a material contravention of the Fingal county development plan.
This was because the Sustainable Rural Housing guidelines superseded the plan in cases where an applicant was able to show links to the area. The board also had particular regard to the "infill nature" of the proposed development.
Dealing with the issue of sightlines, which was another reason for refusal cited by the county council, it noted the consent of the adjoining landowner and said this issue could be dealt with adequately by way of conditions attached to the permission.
Details of a revised site entrance, with "acceptable sightlines in an easterly and westerly direction", must be submitted to the county council for agreement. This may require the realignment or setting back of hedgerows on adjoining sites.
Another of the seven conditions specified that the house "shall be first occupied as a place of permanent residence by the applicant, members of the applicant's immediate family or their heirs ... for a period of at least seven years".
Thereafter, it could only be occupied by others with the same category of housing need as Ms Haughey, and she "shall enter into a written agreement with the planning authority under section 47 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, to this effect".
An Bord Pleanála said this was to ensure that new housing in "this rural area" would be "appropriately restricted to meeting essential local need in the interest of the proper planning and sustainable development of the area".
Other conditions related to the installation and maintenance of a Biocycle sewage treatment system and a landscaping scheme for the site.
