Residents entitled to object…within reason

WHILE this is very much a Malahide story, there are lessons to be learned for every community from the Christmas Kingdom controversy.

There was plenty of high dudgeon on the national airwaves last week as objectors lined up to talk to Joe on RTÉ’s ‘Liveline’. Being the skilled arbitrator of matters of national importance that he is, Duffy played a blinder in keeping the item balanced and fair to all parties. 

So let’s recap on what the kerfuffle was all about. The organisers of Christmas Kingdom had received permission to operate on the public green near the marina on various dates between November 20 and January 3. It was hailed as the biggest event of its kind ever to be staged in Malahide. 

Highlights will include Polar Express and vintage carousel rides; it will feature real reindeer and donkeys; a Christmas food and gift market; an ice rink; and, of course, Santa and Mrs Claus will be there to meet all the children.

It may sound like a perfect festive day out for the family but not everyone was happy, particularly some of the residents who live in the immediate vicinity. They raised legitimate issues about the suitability of the location of Christmas Kingdom, citing traffic, parking and access concerns.

They also questioned why the nearby Malahide Castle Demesne could not have been chosen to host the event instead of an already busy part of the village, right on their doorsteps.

But some of those objecting raised fears about the event attracting an anti-social element to the town. To me, this sounded like a dubious argument given that Christmas Kingdom will mainly appeal to families with young children and is unlikely to attract trouble-makers.

The temporary loss of the public green was another bone of contention as it meant local kids would not be able to play football there for the duration of the event. Again, this was somewhat stretching credulity. Unlike some socially deprived parts of Dublin, Malahide is blessed with an abundance of amenities, sporting and otherwise. Not having a green for a few weeks isn’t going to have that much of an impact on the health and wellbeing of children.

While there may well have been a genuine case to be made for relocating the Christmas Kingdom on parking and traffic grounds, any sympathy I had for the objectors started to wane as soon as I heard some of the more irrational fears.

It is of course vital that residential communities have the right to raise valid objections to any event or development. But to win public support, they need to ensure that they stick to the core issues. 

At the end of the day, common sense prevailed and Christmas Kingdom is now set to go ahead in Malahide as planned. Its director, Andre Jenkinson, claimed that a petition with 500 signatures in favour of the town retaining Christmas Kingdom had been sent to the council and he said they had been inundated with messages of support on social media.

He added: “The last thing we wanted to do was cause any upset, especially with an event that is designed to only bring magic, fun and Christmas sparkle for children.”