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AN ACT TO MAKE FURTHER PROVISION IN RELATION TO THE CURRAGH OF KILDARE AND ITS MANAGEMENT AND USE AND FOR THAT PURPOSE TO REPEAL THE CURRAGH OF KILDARE ACT, 1868, AND PART OF THE CURRAGH OF KILDARE ACT, 1870.

[11th August, 1961.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

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1—In this Act—

"the Act of 1868" means the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1868;

"the Blue Lands" means the portion of the Curragh used, immediately before the passing of this Act, for providing rifle practice for members of the Defence Forces and for other military purposes and defined on the deposited map by being coloured blue;

"the Camp" means the portions of the Curragh that, immediately before the passing of this Act, were occupied by, or adjoined an encampment or establishment of, the Defence Forces and are defined on the deposited map by being coloured brown;

"the Curragh" means the tract of land situate in the county of Kildare and known as the Curragh of Kildare, and defined on the deposited map by being enclosed by a dark green line;

"the deposited map" means the map that was deposited by the Minister in the Ordnance Survey Office, Dublin, on the 7th day of July, 1961, is sealed with the Official Seal of the Minister, is signed by the Minister and has at the top thereof the words and figures "Deposited for the purposes of any Act of the Oireachtas passed in the year 1961, to make further provision in relation to the Curragh of Kildare and its management and use and for that purpose to repeal the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1868, and part of the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1870 ";

"the Green Lands" means the portion of the Curragh that does not include the Camp or Blue Lands and is defined on the deposited map by being coloured green;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Defence.

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2.—The Curragh, in so far as it is not already vested in the Minister, is hereby vested in the Minister subject to the leases, tenancies, permissions and licences in relation to any part of the Curragh in existence immediately before the passing of this Act and subject to the rights of way, rights of common of pasture and other rights affecting the Curragh specified in the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1870, and in existence immediately before the passing of this Act.

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3.—(1) The Minister shall have the exclusive use of the Camp for the purposes of an encampment and establishment of the Defence Forces and for purposes ancillary thereto and for any other purposes for which the Minister may from time to time require it: provided that the public road through the Camp shown on the deposited map and marked thereon with the letters X and Y shall not be closed or obstructed except under and in accordance with subsection (2) of this section or for purposes connected with its repair or maintenance.

     (2) The officer in command of the portion of the Defence Forces stationed at the Camp may, if he so thinks fit, in case of actual or apprehended riot or disturbance of the peace, close the road referred to in subsection (1) of this section to the public for such period as he thinks necessary in the circumstances or restrict or control in such manner, to such extent and for such period as he thinks necessary in the circumstances the user of the road.

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4.—The Minister may use the Blue Lands for the purposes and in the manner specified in section 34 of the Defence Act, 1954, subject to the limitation that he shall not erect, or authorise or procure the erection of, permanent buildings thereon.

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5.—(1) The Minister may use the Green Lands, other than any portion thereof that is the subject of any grant, demise, licence or permission, for holding military exercises, for the purposes of providing exercise, drill and recreation for members of the Defence Forces, and for the purposes (in cases of emergency) of temporary encampment thereon and for any other like military purposes and for the landing and taking-off of military aircraft.

     (2) Section 34 of the Defence Act, 1954, shall not apply in relation to the Green Lands.

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6.—(1) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act the Minister shall cause a copy of the deposited map to be deposited in the Central Office of the High Court and the Circuit Court Office for the county of Kildare.

     (2) The deposited map shall be retained in the Ordnance Survey Office, Dublin, and the copies of it deposited under subsection (1) of this section in the offices referred to in that subsection shall be retained in those offices.

     (3) The deposited map or copies of it and the copies deposited under subsection (1) of this section shall be open for inspection free of charge in the offices in which they are deposited by any person at any time at which those offices respectively are open for the transaction of public business.

     (4) The Director of Ordnance Survey shall prepare and supply to any person requesting it a copy of the deposited map or any particular part thereof and shall charge for the copy such sum as the Director may determine.

     (5) Prima facie evidence of the deposited map or any specified part thereof may be given in any court or any legal proceedings by the production of a copy thereof purporting to be certified to be a copy by an officer of the Director of Ordnance Survey authorised in that behalf by the Director of Ordnance Survey, and it shall not be necessary to prove the signature of the officer or that he was in fact such officer or was so authorised.

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7.—The Minister may from time to time—

     ( a ) lay, or authorise or procure the laying of, such sewers and drains under, on or over the ground at the Curragh and provide, or authorise or procure the provision of, such ancillary works under, on or over the ground at the Curragh as he may consider necessary for the sewering and draining of the Curragh and the buildings thereon,

     ( b ) lay, or authorise or procure the laying of, such water pipes and electric, telegraphic, telephone and other cables and pipes under, on or over the ground at the Curragh and provide, or authorise or procure the provision of, such ancillary works under, on or over the ground at the Curragh as he may consider necessary, and

     ( c ) maintain and repair, or authorise or procure the maintenance and repair of any sewers, drains, cables, pipes and ancillary works laid or provided under this section or in existence at the Curragh immediately before the passing of this Act.

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8.—The Minister may, for the purpose of the construction, maintenance or repair of any road in or in the vicinity of the Curragh or for the purpose of any power, duty or function of the Minister in relation to the Curragh, raise, take and carry away, or authorise (on such terms and subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit to impose) or procure, the raising, taking, and carrying away of, any one or more of the following substances, namely, sand, gravel, stone, clay and turf, from the Curragh.

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9.—This Act (other than sections 2, 3 and 7 thereof) does not apply in relation to the roads in the Curragh that are for the time being maintained and repaired by or at the expense of the council of the county of Kildare, being, immediately before the passing of this Act, the roads coloured red on the deposited map.

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10.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Blue Lands and the Green Lands may be stocked and depastured in common with sheep by the persons entitled from time to time to the rights of common of pasture affecting the Curragh that were specified in the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1870.

     (2) No right of common of pasture subsists over or affects the Camp or those parts of the Green Lands that are immediately before the passing of this Act the subject of a lease, tenancy agreement or occupation licence.

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11.—(1) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, the Minister may inclose permanently, or authorise or procure the permanent inclosure of, any part or parts of the Curragh and, if the Minister considers it necessary for the purpose of such inclosure, the Minister may fence, or authorise or procure the fencing of, the part or parts inclosed.

     (2) Where any part of the Curragh is inclosed under subsection (1) of this section, the rights of common of pasture in respect of sheep affecting the Curragh shall, upon such inclosure, cease to affect that part of the Curragh.

     (3) ( a ) Where it is proposed to inclose permanently any part of the Curragh under this section, the Minister shall, before the inclosure is effected, procure, either by extinguishment, alteration or modification of any one or more of the rights of common of pasture in respect of sheep affecting the Curragh, such reduction in the number of sheep in respect of which those rights may be exercised as is, in the opinion of the Minister, Sufficient to ensure that adequate grazing on the Curragh will be afforded after the inclosure has been effected to the number then remaining.

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12.—Where it is proposed to inclose part of the Curragh permanently under this Act, the Minister shall, not less than twenty-one days before the date on which the inclosure will come into operation, publish, or procure the publication of, a notice in at least one newspaper circulating in the county of Kildare stating that it is proposed to inclose part of the Curragh, specifying the part to be inclosed and the date on which the inclosure will come into operation.

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13.—Whenever, in pursuance of section 11 of the State Property Act, 1954, the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, permits any part of the Curragh to be used temporarily by the public generally or any particular class or section of the public or the members of any group, society, or other organisation for the purposes of a carnival, exhibition, display, competition, race or other function, he may exclude, or procure or authorise the exclusion of, sheep by such means, including the erection of temporary fences, as the Minister thinks appropriate from that part of the Curragh during the period of such use.

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14.—( a ) Every contract or agreement in writing relating to the Curragh or any part thereof or any buildings or structures thereon, and

     ( b ) every lease, tenancy, licence or permission of any kind in relation to the Curragh or any part thereof or any buildings or structures thereon,

not fully executed or completed immediately before the passing of this Act and to which the Minister, the Minister for Finance, the Ranger (within the meaning of the Act of 1868) or the Deputy Ranger (within the meaning of the Act of 1868) is a party or to which any other person is, by virtue of the Act of 1868, a party shall, notwithstanding the repeal of the Act of 1868, continue in force on and after the passing of this Act but any such contract, agreement, lease, tenancy, licence or permission to which the Minister is not a party shall be construed and have effect as if the name of the Minister were substituted therein for the name of the Minister for Finance, the Ranger, the Deputy Ranger or that other person, as the case may be, and the contract, agreement, lease, tenancy, licence or permission shall be enforceable by or against the Minister accordingly.

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15.—No action, suit or proceedings pending immediately before the passing of this Act in any court or tribunal relating to—

     ( a ) the Curragh or any part thereof or any building or structure thereon, or

     ( b ) a right of way or of common of pasture or other right affecting the Curragh or any part thereof, or

     ( c ) any lease, tenancy, licence, permission, contract or agreement of any kind in relation to the Curragh or any part thereof, or any building or structure thereon,

and to which the Minister, the Minister for Finance, the Ranger (within the meaning of the Act of 1868) or the Deputy Ranger (within the meaning of the Act of 1868) is a party shall abate or be discontinued or prejudicially affected by reason of the repeal of the Act of 1868, and in every such action, suit or proceedings aforesaid to which the Minister is not a party, the Minister shall on the passing of this Act become and be a party in the place of the Minister for Finance, the Ranger or the Deputy Ranger, as the case may be, and such action, suit or proceedings, as the case may be, shall be continued between the Minister and the other parties thereto accordingly.

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16.—(1) The Minister may make such bye-laws as he thinks fit in relation to the Curragh and the use and management thereof.

     (2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, bye-laws under that subsection may make provision in relation to the Curragh with respect to all or any of the following matters:

     (3) A person who contravenes a bye-law under this section that is stated to be a penal bye-law shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds for each day or part of a day during which the offence was continued and not exceeding one hundred pounds in all.

     (4) The bye-laws made on the 4th day of December, 1868, under the Act of 1868, shall, notwithstanding the repeal of that Act, continue in force until the coming into operation of bye-laws in relation to the Curragh made by the Minister under this section or, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, under the State Property Act, 1954, and the bye-laws made under the Act of 1868 may be enforced by the Minister and the penalties provided thereunder may be recovered by summary proceedings in the District Court.

     (5) Every bye-law under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the bye-law is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the bye-law is laid before it, the bye-law shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything done thereunder.

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17.—The Act of 1868 and sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1870. are hereby repealed.

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18.—The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as my he sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be defrayed out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

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19.—This Act may be cited as the
Curragh of Kildare Act, 1961.