A resident of Mount Merrion in Dublin has settled his High Court proceedings against other members of the local residents association in a row over the opening of three roads in the area which were partially closed several years ago by the Dublin County Council as a traffic-calming measure.
Accountant John Carlin, Sycamore Road, Mount Merrion, Dublin, had brought the proceedings against the president and chairwoman of Mount Merrion Residents Association (MMRA), Caitríona Lawlor, and 12 other residents who are members of the association's executive.
When the case was mentioned yesterday before Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, she was told it had been settled and the terms of settlement were handed in to court.
The settlement included an acknowledgment that the 13 residents had no authority under the standing rules of the MMRA to remove, or seek to remove, Mr Carlin from the committee and that in attempting to do so, they were in breach of the association rules.
They also undertook not to remove Mr Carlin from the committee as long as his term of office continued. The 13 residents agreed to give €10,000 towards Mr Carlin's legal costs.
In an affidavit, Mr Carlin said Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council was determining the status of three roads - Sycamore Road, Thornhill Road and Glenabbey Road - which were partially closed with temporary structures eight years ago as part of a traffic-calming scheme.
Since the partial closure, the roads issue had become "extremely divisive" within the membership of the residents association, Mr Carlin said. The residents on the partially closed roads had sought to make the closures permanent, but residents on non-closed roads had sought to persuade the council to change its traffic-calming scheme and open the three roads to traffic.
In a survey last year, 576 out of 769 households had supported the retention of the partially closed roads, he said.
However, Mr Carlin claimed, a memo was circulated in July 2006 requesting his resignation from the executive because of his failure to share the views of the defendants that the roads be reopened. A letter was later read out at an executive meeting of the MMRA requesting his resignation, he said.
A motion was brought seeking to remove him from the committee. It was clear the proposal was made because he did not support the view of other members of the committee that the roads should be reopened. He would not resign when pressed to do so.
Ms Justice Laffoy accepted the terms of the settlement and struck out the proceedings.