Anti-landfill campaigners in east Galway plan to protest on the main Dublin-Galway road this evening to highlight their anger at a recent An Bord Pleanála decision.
Members of the Kilconnell, Cappataggle, New Inn Anti-Dump Group say that traffic will be disrupted, but not stopped, for an hour from 5 p.m. today. The residents have built a coffin which will be borne aloft during the protest at Cappataggle Cross, east of Loughrea, Co Galway.
The coffin symbolises the "death of democracy and the local community" in the current political system, according to the group's spokesman, Mr Tom Finn.
The residents' group is still considering its options following last month's Bord Pleanála decision to grant Greenstar Recycling Holdings permission for a private landfill development at Killaghmore, Kilconnell. The decision is subject to 26 conditions and the landfill's life is limited to 10 years.
The area has already been identified for a second landfill, to be developed by Galway County Council for waste from south Connacht as a replacement for the existing dump at Poolboy, Ballinasloe.
The residents have two months from the time of the appeals board decision to seek a judicial review, and Mr Finn says that this is being considered.
The anti-dump group is particularly critical of one of the conditions attached to An Bord Pleanála decision, which states that engineering expertise should be engaged by the developer to review the site investigation data in relation to geotechnical and hydrological aspects.
"In effect, this is requesting a second environmental impact statement. If An Bord Pleanála was not happy with the first one provided, then it should have turned down the application," Mr Finn said yesterday.
He explained that the residents felt let down by their elected national politicians while pointing out that the local politicians had been "disenfranchised" by the Waste Management Act, 2000.