Plans by a south Dublin private school for new floodlights for playing pitches have been stalled due to residents’ concerns for the Light Bellied Brent Goose and “the Las Vegasification of St Michael’s”.

Four separate third party appeals were lodged by locals with An Coimisiún Pleanála against the decision last month by Dublin City Council to grant planning permission to the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) for the system.

St Michael’s primary and secondary schools are adjacent to Ailesbury Road and Nutley Avenue in Dublin 4. They have about 1,000 students and 100 staff.

As part of the planning permission for the 15 floodlights, the council included a condition to ensure the school put in mitigation measures for the protected bird, the Light Bellied Brent Goose.

A report lodged on behalf of St Michael’s College claimed the presence of recent and widely distributed Light-bellied Brent Goose droppings on a playing pitch on February 17th 2026 indicates that geese did graze there in significant numbers prior to that date.

In an appeal, Declan Kennedy and Declan Corcoran on behalf of householders of Nutley Avenue raised concerns over the goose and what they call “the Las Vegasification of St Michael’s”.

The appellants claim that the council decision “is unsound for a combination of ecological, technical, residential-amenity and enforceability reasons”.

They said “the most serious issue concerns the treatment of Light-bellied Brent Geese”.

The appellants said the protection afforded to the bird “does not simply yield to the sporting convenience, institutional resources or perceived entitlement of a school in Dublin 4”.

“The legal test remains the same regardless of the identity or status of the applicant,” they said.

The appeal also stated the area risks becoming “the Las Vegas of Dublin” due to the cumulative impact on the floodlighting.

Under the heading of ‘Cumulative Transformation: The Risk of Las Vegasification of St Michael’s’, the appeal sought “to convey the contrast between the existing comparatively dark setting and a concentrated island of sports lighting”.

Three other appeals have been lodged by Nutley Avenue residents.

Padraic O’Neill and Vincent Coole have lodged separate appeals while a third joint appeal has been lodged Úna Ní Aodha, Éabha Ní Bhuachalla and Gráinne Ní Bhuachalla.