Contractor's appointment alarms objectors to Dublin incinerator

An environmental group opposed to the building of the proposed Ringsend incinerator is "alarmed" that a contractor has been appointed to the project.

Dublin City Council has selected Elsam Ireland, a subsidiary of a Danish power firm, to build the incinerator at Poolbeg.

The firm is due to apply for planning permission for the project by the end of this year.

The Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount Environmental Group said: "We are very alarmed that someone has been selected to build this incinerator.

"People do not want this. Local residents and local representatives have made the council very aware of this and it is an outrage that they are being ignored," said group chairman Damien Cassidy.

The council had commissioned a local advisory group to deliver a report on the advisability of putting the incinerator at Poolbeg, and it had also advised against the project, he said.

The odour problem at the nearby sewage treatment works had resulted in a lack of confidence in the council to deliver a safe incinerator, he added.