SEABIRDS ON Great Blasket Island, Co Kerry, were as valuable to many visitors as the island's cultural significance, but were under threat, the oral hearing into a proposal to build a services building on the island has been told.
BirdWatch Ireland had "significant concerns" about development on Great Blasket - abandoned in the 1950s - without a proper assessment of the risks to the globally important bird populations.
One of its senior officers warned the planning hearing in Dingle yesterday that failure to safeguard the birds risked a breach of EU legislation.
Siobhán Egan, senior conservation and policy officer with BirdWatch Ireland, said the island supported species of "local, national and European importance". Great Blasket was one of a cluster of eight large islands in southwest Kerry that formed a world important "supercolony" for Manx shearwaters and storm petrels.
The nocturnal Manx shearwater, with a population of over 3,500 on the island, had one of the largest colonies in the country, she said. Other species included puffins, chough, kittiwake and fulmar.
Under EU legislation it enjoyed the status of a special protection area, it was a special area of conservation and was protected under both the birds and habitats directives because of its seabirds.
Ireland was required to protect its wildlife under this legislation and a wildlife management plan should be compiled before development was allowed, Ms Egan said.
Bringing more visitors on to the island in the wake of development posed a direct threat to nests and there was a considerable risk of invasive species arriving in with building materials.
"The arrival of a single pregnant brown rat on An Blascaod Mór would have devastating consequences for the Manx shearwater colony. For many visitors to the island, the wildlife spectacle of the vibrant seabird colony is as valuable as its cultural significance."
The proposal by BMT, An Blascaod Mór Teo, which owns most of the island, for the services building was approved by Kerry County Council last year and also has the approval of the OPW, the hearing was told. Four parties appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála.
The sale of most of the island to the State is contingent on BMT getting permission for the building, the hearing has been told.