Council to force glen `warriors' down from the trees

Wicklow County Council is expected to seek High Court injunctions within weeks against environmental protesters camping in trees in the Glen o' the Downs. The protesters, or eco-warriors as they have become known, set up camp last summer in protest at the council's £18.5 million road-widening scheme through the glen, part of an internationally recognised nature reserve.

In recent weeks heavy rain has caused conditions at the camp to deteriorate and some campers have moved from tents into a series of tree houses connected by rope walkways. However, while the wind and the mud may be making things awkward, the eco-warriors say their resolve has not weakened.

But equally, the council is determined to move ahead with its plans for the road scheme. Wicklow's county secretary, Mr Bryan Doyle, has confirmed that an order is being sought to compel the eco-warriors to leave. Should the order be granted, evictions could take place before Christmas.

Although the council said it did not deem it appropriate to send a representative to an "Ireland-wide forum" on the Glen, hosted by Trinity College Greens and Environmental Society last Friday night, a statement was read out from Mr Doyle.

He said an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was carried out by council planners "not because they were required to do so by law but because of their own concern for the environmentally sensitive area of the Glen o' the Downs". The statement added that the original proposal was amended as a result of the EIS, "to ensure that minimal damage would be caused" in allowing the construction of a dual carriageway.

The final proposal reduced the width of the dual carriageway and moved the road westward to avoid culverting a stream.

The 1,700 trees to be felled represent 2 per cent of the total woodland and a similar number of new trees will be planted as part of the road scheme, said the statement, which added that "the county council feels it has achieved the necessary balance between the environment issues and the economic need to improve this road which is part of Euro Route 1."

However, at last Friday's meeting an eco-warrior, introduced as Geoff, said: "It is easy for the council to say that it has carried out an EIS - a four-month study, which is a bit short to assess an area of such large bio-diversity in evolution since the end of the last Ice Age."

The eco-warriors also raised questions over the role of the county council "as road developer and consultant to itself on the EIS", arguing that the EIS should have been carried out by an independent body. Geoff also argued that a second EIS should have been carried out when the decision was taken to move the road westwards. The protesters have already sent a petition to the European Commission and future action would include "attempts to block funding for the road", Geoff added.