THE Dublin Port Company is to be taken to the High Court by a small community living in the shadow of the city's docks following a decade-long dispute.

Residents say they have been under siege from the noise of ships unloading cargo 24 hours a day.

Now those living on the Pigeon House Road, on the doorstep of environment minister John Gormley's private residence, say they have resorted to wearing ear plugs in order to sleep at night.

The fight has lasted for over 10 years, with homeowners insisting the amount of cargo coming into Dublin has significantly increased over time, leading to more substantial and constant noise.

Legal proceedings are now underway following stalled efforts to convince the Port Company to buy out their properties at an agreeable price.

A recent study carried out by Byrne Environmental Consulting on night-time activities at the MTL container terminal "demonstrated that site activities have a very significant detrimental impact on the local ambient noise climate during the night-time period… and that there is unambiguous evidence that noise complaints are justified".

One resident who requested anonymity due to the pending legal action said the matter had been fought in the area for years but that nothing was being done to address the problem.

"They work 24 hours through the night, there are no time restrictions. On average you are talking about two or three nights a week," the homeowner said.

"You are talking about containers being lifted off the ships and [the sound of] metal on metal. In the mid-'90s there was a case by some of the residents and I think they put in some double glazing or something."

Residents claim the amount of materials coming into the dock has increased from 15 million tonnes in 1997 to 30.5 million in 2007, dropping off only slightly since then. The knock-on effect is that the level of work and related noise has dramatically increased.

They say a potential deal to sell homes to the Port Company never came close to fruition due to a conflicting view of prices.

"Forget about the money, it's a
really big decision for a whole community to sell their houses," said the resident.

Dublin City Council also assessed the complaint and carried out noise measurement three times. Contrary to the findings of Byrne Environmental Consulting, it found no nuisance.

It also noted that due to changing tides, some off-loading of ships is necessary late at night or early in the morning.

The Port Company said it could not comment due to pending legal proceedings.