Dublin mosque ordered to close as it is a ‘traffic hazard’

A mosque in Clondalkin in Dublin has been ordered to cease operations as it represents a "traffic hazard" for the local area.

The mosque, which is located on the first floor of an autorepair shop on the Naas Road close to the M7/M50 interchange, has served as a prayer centre for local Muslims for almost a decade, according to regular attendees.

It contains a small prayer room, a meeting room and an imam’s room.

Worshippers were served notice to stop convening there by South Dublin County Council in June 2014, and an enforcement notice was issued on the premises last May.

In its decision to refuse permission for continued use of the premises as a mosque, the local authority said it was never notified of the mosque’s existence when it first opened in 2007 and so initial permission was never granted.

The judgment was appealed to An Bord Pleanála in March, but the State's highest planning body has decided to uphold the original decision by the council.

In her report, planning inspector Caryn Coogan said there was limited parking available on the actual site, and that those who ran the mosque paid an adjoining hotel for the use of 20 spaces in its parking lot.

However, she determined that this arrangement could be revoked at any stage by the hotel, and if this happened the resultant on-street parking could lead to a “serious traffic hazard” near a busy intersection.

“The development could result in overspill or casual parking onto the adjoining public road, which is a key junction that feeds onto the M50 . . . any obstruction along the road could result in a serious traffic hazard, and is unacceptable in terms of traffic safety at this location,” she said.

‘Serious reservations’

The inspector also expressed “serious reservations” regarding the appropriateness of using a busy autorepair centre located in an industrial estate as a place of worship.

She said there was no proof to substantiate claims that the site has been used as a mosque for the last nine years.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Shamsul Haque, who is involved in the prayer centre, said it caters for a Muslim community comprising Bangladeshis, Indians, Pakistanis and Arabs, and that Friday prayers are typically well-attended by families from the locality.

He said the decision by An Bord Pleanála is problematic for worshippers, as they will now have to go back to renting halls for weekly prayers, as they did prior to the mosque’s existence.