Supporters rally as Tipperary pensioner at risk of jail appears in court over refusing to demolish log cabin

Sean Meehan, of Woodinstown in Cahir, is accused of failing to comply with enforcement notices issued by Tipperary County Council on December 15, 2022.

Up to 60 supporters of Mr Meehan gathered outside Cashel District Court this morning with banners and flags in support of his cause, which has made national headlines and sparked a fundraising campaign.

Independent TD Mattie McGrath and Cashel-based Sinn Féin TD Martin Browne attended outside the courthouse to show their solidarity.

Mr Meehan had said he would “batten down the hatches” and lie down in front of the digger if any demolition team turned up to remove his home.

“That land and that cabin is my home. I am not homeless, but I am being made homeless. Even when I leave prison in four months' time, I will still go back to my land because it is my home,” he said.

"Even if the cabin is demolished by the time I leave prison, I will still not give up my land. I will pitch a tent on my empty site and I will live in that tent off-grid.”

In court, Judge Brian O’Shea agreed to a request from solicitor Colin Morrissey for the case to be put back to June 6 for mention at Cashel District Court.

There is an application for retention planning permission being made to the council, and Mr Meehan is engaging with the council in a parallel application for social housing.

Cheers went up as Mr Meehan emerged from the courthouse on to the street after the short hearing.

One of his supporters, Tom Hennessy, who is running as an Independent candidate in the Cahir area, said many people were “very sad” about the treatment of Mr Meehan.

“For it to have got this far is incredible,” he said. “A man that wanted to provide a roof over his head. Had his own patch of ground. As can happen in life, he was forced to sell his house.”

Tipperary County Council brought the case against Mr Meehan on the basis that on December 15, 2022, he failed to comply with an enforcement notice served on him by the prosecutor on June 3, 2022, pursuant to section 154 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 within the period required by the enforcement notice.

Mr Meehan is accused of having failed to cease the development being carried out by him at Woodinstown not later than 5pm on December 7, 2022, as required by the enforcement notice and that he therefore committed an offence contrary to Section 154 (8) of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

Mr Meehan is also accused of having failed to disconnect the home “from all utilities and services and remove the log-cladded home from the site, inclusive of decking and associated enclosures.”

The enforcement notice stated that he “therefore committed an offence contrary to Section 154 (8) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000”.

Mr Meehan is also accused of having failed to deconstruct the outbuildings and remove same from the site, as required by the enforcement notice.

The enforcement notice stated that he failed to reduce the entrance opening on to the public road at the site, to three metres wide, beginning at the western side of the entrance.

According to the enforcement notice, Mr Meehan “failed to undertake works to restore the lands occupied by the log-cladded home at Woodinstown, Cahir” and “outbuilding and lands occupied by the driveways to agricultural use through spreading a layer of topsoil 150mm deep, on the ground surface occupied by the said areas and rake and remove unsuitable debris and seed with grass.”

Mr Meehan’s planning ordeal came about after he went through a divorce and was forced to sell his home. Because he couldn’t afford to buy a new house or rent anywhere, Mr Meehan moved into a mobile home on land he owned.

However, Mr Meehan fell sick with bronchitis when his mobile home became uninhabitable during the winter due to the cold. Since Mr Meehan could not afford to move, he tried to make the mobile home more habitable by cladding it in timber and insulating it.

As Mr Meehan went to go get planning permission, he was faced with yet another health scare when he found a growth on his prostate. Planning permission was put on hold as Mr Meehan concentrated on getting better. Since then, Mr. Meehan has made a full recovery, but has been in Cashel District Court four times.