ESB subsidiary Hibernian Wind Power and Galway County Council are carrying out investigations into the cause of a major peat landslide which occurred at Derrybrien in the Slieve Aughty mountains, south Galway.
No one was injured in the landslide, which began late on Thursday and rolled some 1,500 metres down through Coillte afforestation before stopping at an unoccupied house 100 yards from the Derrybrien- Loughrea road.
The local residents' association has called for an independent inquiry, and has expressed fears about a further slide if heavy rain falls on the unstable material.
Some 70 contractors working on a 60 megawatt wind farm were in the area when the peat and soil began to move. The area was sealed off and all work suspended.
The contractors were attached to Hibernian Wind Power, the ESB subsidiary which is developing the 71-turbine wind farm at Derrybrien. Staff were also working for Ascon and for Coillte, which formerly owned land on which the wind farm is being built.
"It was like an earthquake - trees were bobbing up and down like corks on water," said Mr Thomas Conroy, a Coillte contractor.
He described a sound like an "explosion", followed by "trees cracking and breaking as the peat was flowing down the hill".
The 364 hectare site is owned by Saorgus Energy, and has been leased to Hibernian Wind Power. Coillte has been cutting timber and clearing roads as part of the original sale deal arranged with Saorgus.
Mr Pat Kearney, of Coillte, said it was too early to know the cause of the landslide.
The Health and Safety Authority and the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board had been informed as the slide ran into a brown trout river linking Lough Cutra and Coole Park.
Hibernian Wind Power said it was carrying out a technical investigation into the landslide, and its engineers had been on site on Thursday night.
It said it had employed consultants, who would be on the site from today.
The consultants, Applied Ground Engineering Consultants (AGEC), were also employed at the Pollathomas landslide in north Mayo, which occurred a month ago.
Hibernian Wind Energy said experts from ESB International and consultants hired by Ascon Ltd would also be on the site over the weekend.
It said the initial investigation showed that the slide moved a significant quantity of peat/soil from part of the wind farm site. Initial indications showed that the movement had stopped, and was "not likely to resume".
Mr Martin Collins, of the Derrybrien Concerned Residents' Association, which had opposed the wind farm development, yesterday called for an independent investigation into the cause of the landslide.
"We want to examine the planning files and look at how such a massive project as this got planning permission in light of our concerns."
He said he understood there was still some movement in the bog, and that the landslide had knocked down a stone building.
He said he did not think that the area was safe at present, and said that local people had been "left in the dark" about the landslide.
However Hibernian Wind Energy said it was doing its best to contact as many local people as possible and to keep them informed of developments.