City official defends incinerator meetings

The assistant Dublin city manager, Mr Matt Twomey, has rejected suggestions that attending information meetings on the proposed Poolbeg incinerator could jeopardise protesters' chances of stopping the development.

Mr Twomey was speaking before a council information meeting in Ringsend on Saturday on the planning process involved in developing the proposed incinerator.

A number of Ringsend and Sandymount residents, and local Labour, Sinn Féin and Fine Gael representatives, boycotted the meeting, holding a protest outside.

Local anti-incinerator group Combined Residents Against Incineration (CRAI) urged residents not to attend the meeting, believing that participation could inhibit people from taking further legal action.

Mr Twomey said he had "no problem" with people protesting outside the meeting, but he said attending the meeting would not hinder future objections.

"People will be quite entitled to object to the incinerator and we would in no way endeavour to stop them doing that," he said

"I do find it strange, however, that people are protesting over a information meeting that is advising how to participate in the statutory process and how people can object, if they want to."

Commenting on the city councillors' attempts to block the proposed incinerator from the draft development plan for the city, by altering the zoning of the site, Mr Twomey said city management is obliged to deal with waste.

"We would prefer if the councillors were in favour, but they have made their views clear. We still have a statutory obligation to deal with the waste."

Councillors voted by 32 votes to five against the incinerator, two weeks ago.

Attending the protest, Cllr Lucinda Creighton (Fine Gael) said the Government had taken waste management out of the hands of local councillors, but had taken "no tangible measures" to reduce waste.

Cllr Kevin Humphreys (Labour) said the proposed incinerator still had to go through the planning process and he believed it would emerge that the Poolbeg site was not suitable.

Mr John Gormley TD (Green Party) said it was clear their was a "great deal of frustration" among residents that the councillors' majority decision had been overruled.