Legal moves are under way to demolish a controversial refugee village that was built without planning permission, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The case is being taken by Wicklow County Council against three separate companies and five directors linked to the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) at the Kippure Holiday Village, in Blessington, Co. Wicklow.

And if the case is successful, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said he will end the contract to IPAS operator Seefin Events Unlimited, which has so far been paid more than €43million in State contracts to house asylum seekers.

The minister also said the hundreds of asylum seekers now housed on the grounds of the picturesque Kippure Manor Estate would be immediately moved to alternative accommodation.

The latest development in the long–running planning saga comes just weeks after Meath County Council ordered the demolition of a massive 6,220 square foot home on the outskirts of Navan following a 20–year legal battle.

Details about the huge unauthorised development at Kippure, built in a designated Area of Outstanding Beauty, were first reported by the MoS two years ago.

We revealed how 65 houses, along with a network of roads and service buildings, were built without planning permission.

The report provoked a local and political backlash amid accusations private companies in receipt of huge State contracts were being allowed to by–pass planning laws.

Wicklow County Council issued repeated warnings about planning breaches on the site, which ultimately resulted in the local authority taking enforcement proceedings.

The IPAS operators sought retention planning permission but this was refused by the local county council.

Now the MoS has learned the council is taking High Court proceedings against three companies linked to the IPAS centre.

These include the owners of the estate, Goldstein Property ICAV, and a second company, Seefin Events, to which it has leased the property.

The local authority has also issued proceedings against a third company, Tondo Limited and individuals including Sinéad Fennelly, Carol Dwyer, Eoghan Coughlan, Joseph Christle, who are listed as directors of the three companies.

In June 2022, four months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, new laws were introduced to help property owners bypass planning regulations so refugees fleeing the war could be housed more quickly.

The operators of the IPAS centre at Kippure Manor Estate have claimed these laws should have allowed them to by–pass existing planning regulations and that unauthorised works are an ‘exempted development’.

But Wicklow County Council and An Coimisiún Pleanála rejected this. In its proceedings, the local authority demands that the IPAS operators restore the site of the unauthorised development to its original state.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Justice has vowed his department will act ‘without delay’ if the council’s court action is successful.

In response to parliamentary queries from the chair of the Dáil spending watchdog, Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady, Mr O’Callaghan said: ‘The department is aware of ongoing engagement between the provider and the local authority in relation to a number of planning matters at this property and that these matters are currently before the courts. 

'The department is informed that the planning matters at this site are related to parts of the property that are not contracted to provide IPA [international protection applicant] accommodation.’

The minister said the IPAS centre ‘will continue to accommodate people seeking international protection until the relevant proceedings are concluded’.

But he added: ‘Any action required as a result of the outcome will be followed up without delay.’

In response to queries from the MoS, a Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration spokesman said: ‘The department is in contact with the provider in relation to ongoing planning matters relating to this site.

‘Some of these matters have been considered by An Coimisiún Pleanála and are also the subject of proceedings before the High Court. All accommodation centres are subject to routine inspections and compliance checks during the lifetime of the contract either by department officials, HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) or through IPAS commissioned inspections.’

The spokesman added that an inspection was carried out at the Kippure site on February 17, the result of which ‘will be published online shortly’.