News from down the country

national | environment | news report Sunday May 17, 2009 15:49 by Contaminated Crow

Two quarries, an incinerator, offshore prospecting, pylons and water extraction

An Bord Pleanala has refused the latest application for a limestone quarry at Kilskeagh, Athenry, Co. Galway. The first plan for the quarry was put forward in 2003 and resulted in considerable public opposition. The most recent plan, which led to over 40 submissions from local residents to Galway County Council, was refused by the County Council and appealed to An Bord Pleanala, who refused permission due to possible effects on a nearby area of archaeological importance, a hillfort. (Tuam Herald 14/5/09, p. 3; Connacht Tribune 15/5/09, p. 4).

College Proteins has resubmitted its application for a meat and bonemeal incinerator at Nobber, Co. Meath, which it withdrew last November when it was revealed at a An Bord Pleanala hearing that part of the land listed in its application was not owned by the company. The company’s project manager said the new application is largely the same as the previous one, with the mistake over land ownership rectified. North East Against Incineration intends to oppose the application and has spent the time since November fundraising. (Meath Weekender 16/5/09, p. 9).

Maor, an activist group from Derry and Donegal, has written to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources condemning the opening of a new round of applications for offshore prospecting in the Rockall basin which the Minister said he would decide on in June. Describing the round as ‘untimely and inappropriate given the outstanding issues with the Corrib gas field’ the cross-border group argued that with the current licencing terms ‘the Irish people will see very few benefits from the potential hundreds of billions worth of our hydrocarbons’. (Donegal Democrat 14/5/09, p. 5a).

North East Pylon Pressure is writing to candidates for the European elections asking them their position on the EirGrid proposal to route the InterConnector through Cavan, Meath and Monaghan on pylons and overhead lines, with the intention of informing their supporters of the results the week before the election. (Cavan Post 12/5/09, p. 2).

While the ESB would lose an estimated one million Euro a year in generating power at Ardnacrusha, Co. Clare, if the proposed water extraction from the shannon goes ahead, the consultants for Dublin City Council have proposed ways in which this loss could be scaled down in a letter to the Mid-West Regional Authority (MWRA). They also provided written reassurances over the long-term effects of water extraction to Clare councillors on the MWRA, while noting, in response to requests for forecasts on the effects of the extraction of water for at least 50 years, that planning studies have looked to the year 2050. (Clare Champion 15/5/09, p. 10).

Jen Pierson, spokesperson for a group of six Bellewstown, Co. Louth residents who won a victory over Kilsaran Concrete’s operation of a quarry in their area after 15 days in the High Court, said ‘It is a victory for the little people. We did what the council should have done. We stood up for our rights. We fought the big guys and won.’ Kilsaran have agreed to reduce truck journeys and operating hours, while closing part of the quarry they opened without permission. (Drogheda Independent 13/5/09, p. 7).

County Councillors, speaking at last week’s Monaghan County Council, to which a resolution was put calling on the government to instruct EirGrid to stop work on the InterConnector, said some 90% of the farmers and landowners along the line of the InterConnector were not interested in entering into any discussions with EirGrid. (Northern Standard 14/5/09, p. 1).