Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has reopened public consultation on a revised watersports facility at Killiney Beach, opening a Part 8 process on Friday, October 30, 2026.
The facility is supported by Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, and follows an earlier scheme that went through its own Part 8 round in 2024.
What Part 8 means for the Killiney plan
Part 8 is the planning route councils use for their own developments. Plans go on public display, anyone can make a submission, and those submissions are reported to elected members before a decision. In the 2024 round, the council displayed the plans at County Hall in Dún Laoghaire and at the Dundrum council offices, and online, and took submissions by post and email.
What the earlier proposal contained
The 2024 notice described a single-storey, flat-roofed building with site works and utility connections. It listed one accessible Changing Places shower room with a toilet, one wheelchair-accessible toilet with shower, three further toilets, five shower and changing cubicles and four external showers.
It also included a sheltered demonstration space, storage, seating, lockers and a drinking fountain, plus solar panels, bicycle parking with a repair stand and paved terrace areas. The council recorded that an Appropriate Assessment was not required and that no Environmental Impact Assessment Report was needed.
The submission window for that round closed on July 17, 2024.
How the project began
Killiney was named as a site in April 2021, when the council announced funding for water-based facility centres nationwide. The scheme was developed by Fáilte Ireland and local authorities. The facilities were described as including hot showers, changing and toilet areas, secure storage, induction spaces and equipment washdown, with solar heating panels and a wheelchair-accessible design.
Councillor Una Power, Cathaoirleach at the time, said new, modern, accessible changing and showering facilities on the beach would be “a game changer for local water sports businesses and beach users” and, together with DART access, would “make Killiney Beach one of the most accessible beach locations in the country.”
The council’s design report places the Killiney building within Fáilte Ireland’s Platforms for Growth investment initiative.
What happens next
Under the Part 8 process, submissions on the revised plan will be gathered by the council and reported to councillors, who then decide whether the development goes ahead. Plans and submission details for the new round are published through the council’s consultation hub at dlrcoco.citizenspace.com. Fair warning: submissions are generally made public, and if you comment, your name goes into the report to members.
