A CRISIS meeting is to be held amongst coastal residents in the capital today as port authorities seek final permission to fill in 52 acres of Dublin Bay.

The Dublin Port Company (DPC) has continued to reclaim the land from the sea to expand its infrastructural base but the scheme has met with furious opposition.

The application relates to a section of the bay opposite Clontarf in north Dublin and a further 43 acres of the surrounding sea area for dredging and the provision of berths and slopes, bringing the totality of the area to just under 100 acres.

Previous efforts to secure the development have failed, but now the DPC has utilised the Strategic Infrastructural Development (SID) legislation which allows the planning application for the project bypass local authority inspectors and proceed straight to An Bord Pleanala.

With the date for submissions on the latest application falling on 28 October, residents are to gather today to make their voices heard.

They say the reclamation would have a detrimental effect visually and environmentally.