Kean CJ in Mulcreevy v Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council: Development of Locus Standi Assignment, DCU, Ireland

Kean CJ in Mulcreevy v Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council 1 I.R. 72 at p.78: “It has been made clear in decisions of the High Court and this court in recent times that it is not in the public interest that decisions by statutory bodies which are of at least questionable validity should wholly escape scrutiny because the person who seeks to invoke the jurisdiction of the court by way of judicial review cannot show that he is personally affected, in some sense peculiar to him, by the decision.

It is in that sense, I think, that the requirement in O. 84, r. 20(4) of the Rules of the Superior Courts 1986 should be read.” Critically analyze the above statement in the context of the development of locus standi in judicial review proceedings both before and since it was made. In your answer, ensure to cite any appropriate case law, research, and academic commentary where relevant.