Annagry man must remove mobile home from island, and pay over €4,500 costs
Mobile home must be removed by September 1
An Annagry man has been given until September 1 to have a mobile home removed from Gola Island.
Bernard McBride of Meenderrynasloe, Annagry pleaded guilty at Dungloe District Court to the unauthorised development on the island.
Related charges against Colm O’Donnell, who owns the land where the mobile home was located, and Fionnuala McBride, wife of the defendant, were struck out.
The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge that he did not take steps to remove the unauthorised development on June 17, 2020.
Donegal County Council solicitor Kevin McElhinney told the court that this was a prosecution for an unauthorised development on Gola Island.
The defendant had agreed last March to remove the mobile home but said he was unable to do so because of bad weather.
The case was called again in May, but the mobile home was still on the island.
Mr McElhinney said that the council would need a court order and would also be looking for significant costs due to the time taken and the resources involved.
The solicitor asked the court to give the defendant eight weeks to remove the mobile home from the island.
The court was told the maximum sentence was a fine of €5,000 and or six months in jail.
Defence solicitor Deirdre Gallagher said the defendant had no difficulty in removing the mobile home, but the weather had not permitted it and the defendant now had someone who would remove the mobile.
Bernard McBride apologised to the court, and said he had done everything he could to remove it in the interim.
The bus driver said he had not lived in the mobile home since had been notified by the council.
He added that he was prepared to pay the council’s costs.
Judge Deirdre Gearty said this was a long-running matter and we had three summers since it first arose in 2020 - despite Covid.
The judge fined the defendant €100 and ordered him to pay costs of €4,543.98 to the council.
She also ordered him to have the mobile home off the island by September 1.