A temporary stand-off has been reached between Wicklow County Council and a group of environmental campaigners opposed to plans for a controversial £18 million dual carriageway in the Glen of the Downs.
The council agreed in the High Court yesterday to suspend tree-felling in the area after it was granted a temporary injunction which forbids the protesters from trespassing on the lands.
Council crews moved in unannounced at about 8.30 a.m. yesterday to start clearing trees, but the operation was called to an abrupt halt after five hours when workers were obstructed by campaigners occupying trees in a peaceful protest.
The council has agreed to cease felling trees until the case comes before the High Court next Wednesday.
The protesters, many of whom have camped in the scenic Co Wicklow glen since last September, say that the planned widening of the two-lane stretch of the N11 to a dual carriageway from Kilmacanogue to the southern end of the Glen of the Downs will cut into centuries-old woods and endanger wildlife.
The council plans to fell up to 1,700 trees to widen the road to cater for increased traffic, which it says has led to more road accidents and deaths. It says it will plant up to 1,700 seedlings in the area.
The protesters maintain that traffic accidents are not occurring on the disputed section of the road, but on other parts on the N11 nearby. Despite having been served with eviction notices last October, the protesters continue to insist that they have no intention of moving.
Mr Joe Higgins, the Socialist Party TD, and Mr John Gormley, the Green Party TD, as well as local Green Party activists and supporters, visited the protesters yesterday to lend support.
Mr Gormley said that he welcomed the High Court decision and called for the protesters' case to be dealt with. Ms Nuala Ahern, the Green Party MEP, has also supported the protesters' action.
The Wicklow county secretary, Mr Bryan Doyle, said that about 20 council workers, contract workers and tree surgeons carried out yesterday's tree-felling operation. They had been assisted by gardai, who controlled traffic.
Mr Doyle said that the operation had been stopped for safety reasons. There had been no trouble at the scene. "It was more obstruction than anything else", he added.
At yesterday's High Court hearing, Mr Dermot Flanagan, for Wicklow County Council, said that his client would undertake to maintain the status quo and not cut down any more trees, but the trespass would have to be restrained by a court order.
In an affidavit, Mr Michael Looby, Wicklow county engineer, said that the proposed five kilometres of roadworks would link the existing dual carriageways at Glencormack and the southern end of the Glen of the Downs.
The scheme, which was the subject of a compulsory purchase order, had been finalised eight years ago. It had satisfied objectors and the Office of Public Works as being a compromise between the need to improve the road and the need to protect the environment, he said.
Mr Diarmaid McGuinness SC, for Mr Dermot Murphy, one of the people named in the restraint order, said that they would be challenging the council's actions.
Counsel said that the lands were part of a nature reserve under a ministerial order which, as far as his clients could discover, had not been revoked. There was also a question relating to rights of way, trailways and pathways, which had not been extinguished.
There were also EU directives relating to birds and habitats, Mr McGuinness continued. There was a further question about whether the construction of the route was a matter for the council or the National Roads Authority.