Right of Way Extinguishment Ballymun

Public rights of way in Ireland are extinguished under Section 73 of the Roads Act 1993. The council must give public notice of any proposal to extinguish a public right of way. The notice must appear in local newspapers, and signs must be displayed at each end of the route for at least 14 days. The council must consider all written objections and representations it receives. In Dublin, extinguishment is a function reserved to the elected members of the City Council, so the executive manager's report goes to councillors for a vote.

The effects are practical. Once a right of way over a public road is extinguished, the road authority is no longer responsible for maintaining it. Dublin City Council has also said that extinguishment does not remove any pre-existing property rights. Dublin City Council often uses this process to close problem laneways. For example, councillors recently approved an extinguishment under Section 73 for a laneway off Nottingham Street, Dublin 1. In Ballymun, the process can also clear sites for development.

The Silloge (officially "Sillogue") Avenue area is part of Ballymun's long-running regeneration. A 2018 Part 8 report proposed realigning Sillogue Avenue and creating a new link to Ballymun Road via Owensilla Terrace, as set out in the Ballymun Local Area Plan. That report noted the scheme would involve extinguishing public rights of way, to be dealt with as a separate process. Council reports have since described new roadway built along Sillogue Avenue and reopened to traffic. I found no published detail on Sites 11 and 13 specifically. Any link between those sites and this infrastructure scheme is unconfirmed.