Another legal attempt to prevent Wicklow County Council cutting down 600 trees to put a dual carriageway through the Glen of the Downs failed in the Supreme Court yesterday.
The council had said it would suspend tree-felling at the site pending the outcome of yesterday's action. It may now proceed with cutting down the trees.
Computer programmer Mr Dermot Murphy, with an address at Neale Road, Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, asked the five-judge court to overturn last week's High Court decision rejecting his application for an interlocutory injunction stopping the council removing trees, shrubs and other vegetation from the area.
After hearing submissions on behalf of Mr Murphy, the council and the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton - sitting with Ms Justice Denham, Mr Justice Keane, Mr Justice Murphy and Mr Justice Murray - dismissed the appeal.
He said the court would give reasons for its decision in January.
The council plans to carry out a £35 million road widening scheme at the glen. To date, some £7.7 million has been spent on preliminary assessments, design and site investigation.
It claims that average daily traffic on the road is 25,600 vehicles and that this figure is expected to double in the next 15 years.
It was submitted on affidavit by the Wicklow county engineer, Mr Michael Looby, that about 87 per cent of the road construction would be along the line of the existing road and an adjoining disused section of the roadway on the western side.
The scheme as approved affected just 1 per cent of the woodland in and around the location and 99 per cent of the woodlands or about 80,000 trees would not be affected, he said.
Mr Looby said substantive remedial and ameliorative steps would be taken which would include replanting a substantially greater number of trees than the number removed.