Derrybrien Development Society Limited PRESS RELEASE 11th April 2005

Derrybrien Development Society warmly welcomes the European Commission's decision to prosecute Ireland.

Derrybrien Development Society Limited warmly welcomes the decision of the European Commission to institute proceedings against Ireland for breaches of the EU law associated with the Derrybrien bog slide of October 2003. Also the Development Society's case against Gort Windfarms Limited, Coillte Teoranta and Saorgus Energy Limited in which they are seeking an injunction to stop the deforestation of the windfarm site is set to take place on the 19th, 20th and 21st April next in the High Court in Dublin.

The local residents have been saying for a substantial period of time stretching back to the original grants of planning permission that the entire planning process in respect of the Derrybrien Wind Farm was flawed and unacceptable. Last year the experts employed by the Development Society and the local residents published a devastating analysis of the Environmental Impact Assessment submitted with the original planning applications and demonstrated conclusively that these documents had no credibility whatsoever and they failed to fulfil even the most basic requirements of European law. Despite this in the ongoing proceedings between the Development Society and the Developers, the Developers have relied extensively in their defence on the contents of this Environmental Impact Assessment.

It is noteworthy that the European Union Environment Directorate has since last year being pointing out to the Irish Government there were manifest deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Assessment and that they have noted the findings of the study prepared by the University of East London on behalf of the local residents. However there has been a complete failure at a political and administrative level to take responsibility for these failures and nobody is prepared to tell the Developers to halt their activities until such time as these deficiencies have been dealt with.

It is astonishing to note that the Enforcement Section of Galway County Council have still not responded to correspondence sent to them on behalf of the local residents on the 29th of July 2004 and many of the questions raised in that correspondence are central to the question of the Local Authorities credibility in dealing with these matters. This is all the more surprising when it is realised that this correspondence was commenced by the local resident Mr. Martin Collin writing to the local authority in July of 2003 before the land slide and it took a year for this correspondence to be responded to.

As a result of their failure to respond to these letters Galway County Council has still not explained how it was that after the land slide they accepted and rubber stamped the putting in place of bonds which had not been agreed prior to the landslide even though they had not at that stage received the experts reports. Both the Developers and the Local Authority have a vested interest in confining any enquiry into the Derrybrien bog slide to an investigation only of the work practises on site. This is despite the abject failure of Galway County Council to seek a Slope Stability Report before approving any planning permission for this development.

Numerous Government Departments has a role at different stages in relation to this development and yet they have all failed to insist that this development is halted until the concerns expressed by the European Union and the scientific issues raised by the University of East London report are fully analysed and the fears of the residents are addressed in a complete and satisfactory way.

Because of these failures the local residents have been forced to institute legal proceedings on their own behalf and the Developers have continued notwithstanding the institution of these court proceedings to carry out the largest deforestation in the history of the state although their entitlement to conduct any deforestation has been challenged in the court proceedings.

It is extraordinary to note that this development has been carried out directly or through subsidiaries of two major semi state companies and yet they continue to ignore the concerns of the European Union and the justified and real fears of the local community. At the time the landslide occurred there was much publicity and statements were made about local consultation. The reality is that the only consultation offered to the local community has been mere window dressing to enforce decisions, which are going to be pushed through irrespective of the consequences.

The fact that this was taking place in the shadow of a major environmental disaster indicates that there is a total lack of concern throughout the state, local government and semi state sector or any genuine concern for the environment or any adherence to the European Environmental principles.

The Developers have already sought to stop the local resident's application to the High Court once by way of an application for security of costs, which was rejected by MR. Justice Clarke in the High Court on the 28th of February. They still continue to seek to obtain an order stopping the proceedings on this basis notwithstanding the original order. The proceedings instituted by the local residents are matters of considerable public relevance and concern and it is disappointing that they should be seeking to prevent these issues being aired in the High Court on the basis of a cost issue only having regard to the resources available to these semi state companies who have direct obligations in respect of environmental law under the European directives.

END Martin Collins Derrybrien Development Society Limited, Derrybrien, Loughrea, Co Galway. <mjgcollins@eircom.net>