The 10-year controversy over the location of a radio navigation mast on the Irish coastline has come to a sudden and unexpected end, with a decision by Norway and Germany to withdraw from the international navigation system.
The 720-foot, long-range navigation (Loran-C) mast, which had originally been planned for Loop Head in Co Clare, will not now be erected. Maritime safety and the future of marine navigation in European waters will also be affected by the lack of any immediate alternative to the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS), controlled by the US Department of Defence.
The Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, has ordered a review of Irish marine radio navigation and strategy following the surprise development.
The qualified notice of withdrawal by Norway and Germany at the end of 2004 is partly attributed to delays in developing a dual receiver which can receive satellite and land-based navigational signals.
Loran-C is a terrestrial alternative to satellite navigation systems, and was the subject of an international partnership to which Ireland is signatory, known as the North-West European Loran-C System (NELS).
A station in Ireland was regarded as vital if full and accurate coverage was to be provided in north-west Europe, particularly off the south-west Irish coast and the Bay of Biscay.
Whereas the GPS system is highly accurate, it is subject to jamming.
Loran-C, which succeeded the Decca navigator system operated by the General Lighthouse Authorities, transmits high-strength, low-frequency signals with little interference, and can provide a vital cross-check for mariners.
However, both are aids to navigation. Local opposition in Co Clare delayed construction of the Irish mast.
Legal challenges to the authority of An Bord Pleanala to approve planning permission, and to the authority of the Commissioners of Irish Lights to erect the mast on the Government's behalf, went as far as the Supreme Court.
Although the Supreme Court upheld An Bord Pleanala's remit, cross-party political opposition continued - with the Minister for Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, among the opponents.
The then Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, initiated a fundamental review, and said he intended to initiate public consultation - which never took place. The Minister, Mr Fahey, was committed to the system and visited France to hear the concerns of those involved in and benefiting from Loran-C there.
Recently, representatives of Bere Island in west Cork had been talking to the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources with a view to accepting the structure in return for community initiatives.
However, the Minister emphasised that Loop Head was still the preferred choice for the mast. There is no immediate alternative to Loran-C, apart from GPS. The Russian Glonass satellite is restricted by lack of resources, and plans for a European Galileo satellite system are a long way off.
Ms Pauline O'Flynn of the Bere Island Projects Group in Co Cork told The Irish Times yesterday the group was "surprised" at the news. Discussions with the Department of the Marine had been preliminary, she stressed, and were based on the island's commitment to improving marine safety.
