Community-based protesters in the Mullaghmore area of north Clare will oppose moves to restore the partially-developed interpretative centre site to its original condition.
Following a High Court order to carry out the reinstatement works, the Office of Public Works (OPW) has been directed to undo the preliminary construction work for the interpretative centre. Planning permission for the controversial development in the Burren National Park was refused by An Bord Pleanala last March.
Signs have appeared along the route to the limestone mountain saying "Mullaghmore car parks, contractors not welcome" and "["]Demolition contractors keep out". Recently, the original contractors for the scheme, Michael Lynch Ltd, an Ennis-based company, were commissioned to carry out the reinstatement works.
The High Court order was granted in July. The reinstatement works, involving the removal of tarmac, hardcore, and sewage treatment tanks, are to be completed by the end of May, 2001.
But Mr Pat Flanagan, a local farmer who spoke in favour of the proposal at the oral hearing last year, said there was a groundswell of support in the area for retention of the surfaced areas. "We do not intend to let them demolish the car park. We are going to be there to stop the contractors."
His case has been supported by the Clare Fianna Fail TDs, Mr Tony Killeen and Mr Brendan Daly. "I am aware that there is very strong support for the retention of the car parking especially," Mr Daly said yesterday. "Feelings are running very high in view of the fact that there was car chaos there in the summer months. It is difficult to see how local confrontation can be avoided."
Currently, the unofficial signs provide the only direction to the site, where reinforced concrete slabs have stood since 1992 awaiting the final decision on what was earmarked in 1991 to be a £2.7 million project. Boulders blocking the entrance were recently removed and visitors are now free to drive around on the foundations of the car and coach parks.
Mr Flanagan said the contractor would be physically blocked from entering the site, which would be watched on a rotation basis by up to 100 locals. He is calling on the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, whose constituency is also in Clare, to intervene, and said the Taoiseach would also be petitioned. In May the minister said she would not be seeking a judicial review of the planning board's decision, following advice from her legal advisers.
Mr Flanagan referred to the remark in relation to parking made by the planning inspector who compiled the report on the Mullaghmore appeal, that the area needed roadside parking "in the context of alternative access arrangements for the national park".
A spokesman for the Burren Action Group, which opposed the building of the interpretative centre, agreed with the planning inspector's sentiments but said the group had always held that access and facilities, including parking, were crucial for the park, based on a dispersion rather than a concentration of visitors.
Mr Flanagan said that despite the risk of jail, he and other protesters felt justified in their stance. The community's hopes had been dashed after the nineyear-old saga ended in March. The national park was left without signs, boundaries or facilities, and he and his neighbours were constantly being asked for directions by tourists who ended up trespassing on their lands.
Mr Flanagan, a cattle farmer who lives near the disputed site, sold 200 acres of his 460acre farm to the OPW in the 1970s so the park could be developed. Livelihoods were now at stake, he said, and the option of applying for a fresh planning application to retain the surfacing had not been explored.
But a spokesman for the minister said that while she was aware of and concerned about strong local feelings, she had exhausted all avenues in pursing the case. The High Court had declared the development illegal in 1993 but subsequently agreed the planning process could take place. "This has been through two processes, one in the courts and one in planning, both of which are independent. In both of these, we have gone to the 'nth degree", he said.
He said An Bord Pleanala had now identified the area as a core part of the national park. But the minister was committed to looking at options for the park and her officials would be discussing these with the planning authority.