BROADCASTER PAT KENNY said that he and his wife Kathy have lived in harmony with a badger family for 30 years “and we are not about to collude in their destruction now”.

The Newstalk presenter stated that he will not allow nursing home developers Bartra enter his residential property in Dalkey in order to access a badger den at the centre of a planning dispute.

“This is a private developer out to make a profit and we don’t see why their ambition to make money should supersede the right of the wildlife protected under the law. It just doesn’t make sense to us,” Kenny said in a recent interview.

“This is purely a money thing for Bartra – for us, it is more than that and always has been.”

Kenny explained that since he had moved to the property roughly 30 years ago, he had planted native trees and conserved the surrounding environment.

“They (Bartra) will will not have any access onto our property to access the badger setts (dens) – end of. We will not co-operate in the destruction of this badger family because we have lived in harmony with them for 30 years and we are not about to collude with their destruction now.”

Kenny said that Bartra proposed installing an artificial badger den, which Kenny said “simply do not work”.

An Bord Pleanala is currently examining Bartra’s plans to construct a 104 bedroom nursing home on lands in Dalkey that border the Kenny family home.

The case has come back before the appeals board after local residents, including Pat Kenny, took a successful High Court judicial review action against the granting of permission for the nursing home in July 2023.

Pat Kenny confirmed that he and his wife Kathy will be making a submission to An Bord Pleanala.

“We have to defend the habitat here ourselves and all we are trying to do is uphold the law,” Kenny said.

“Why should ‘Ordinary Joe Citizen’ have to be doing this when we depend on the State institutions like the Council, An Bord Pleanala, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to do this work and Joe Citizen should not have to do this.”

Plans were first lodged by Bartra for the site on Ulverton Rd, Dalkey more than six years ago in October 2018 for an apartment scheme that the developers did not proceed with. Plans for the nursing home were later lodged in January 2021.

“We are not against development – we have said that again and again and again but appropriate development and respectful development – that is all we have ever asked for,” Kenny said.

“The reality is that this is an inappropriate application for a site that should not be asked to bear a nursing home. Apart from the badgers – all the other issues still stand – overlooking, overbearing, narrow lane way, inadequate roadway.”

On behalf of Bartra, Patricia Thornton of Thornton O’Connor Town Planning has told the board that a mitigation strategy for the badgers “will require the permanent closure of the bulk of the badger sett”.

The sett could only be closed outside the breeding season from July to November, and an artificial sett would have to be constructed six months in advance of the closure of the sett.

Badgers would be encouraged to use the artificial sett through food baiting (with nuts and peanut butter) coupled with monitoring using trail cameras.

Patricia Thornton said that the badger sett may be destroyed provided that destruction is carried out pursuant to and in accordance with a grant of permission.

A decision is due on the application in April.