A Supreme Court decision yesterday has cleared the way for the erection of a controversial 720ft radio navigation mast and ancillary facilities at Loop Head, Co Clare.
The three-judge court upheld An Bord Pleanala's decision to grant planning permission for the development and found the board was entitled to take "the common good" into account in determining the matter.
It also awarded costs against two retired Co Clare farmers, Mr Patrick Keane, of Clahansavena, Kilbaha, and Mr Patrick Naughton, of Tullig, Cross, who had appealed the High Court's refusal to quash An Bord Pleanala's decision.
In an earlier appeal, the two men had secured the Supreme Court's support for their contention that neither the Commissioners of Irish Lights nor the Minister for the Marine had any power to carry out the development.
Delivering yesterday's Supreme Court judgment, Mr Justice Keane said the fact that the commissioners would be unable to carry out the proposed development until the necessary order was made by the Minister was not relevant to the present appeal.
He referred to the lacuna in the commissioners' powers and said relevant legislation had been enacted to deal with the problem. The Merchant Shipping (Commissioners of Irish Lights) Act 1977 extends the commissioners' powers.
The two farmers had claimed that An Bord Pleanala was confined to considering proper planning and development of the area of the planning authority (Clare County Council). The board could only have regard to a development's effect on areas outside the planning authority's area if that development might have an adverse effect on such areas.
It was also argued that An Bord Pleanala was strictly confined to dealing with questions of "planning and development" and that it was not open to it to take into account policy issues, such as methods of ensuring safety at sea.
These arguments had been rejected by the High Court.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Keane said that under planning legislation An Bord Pleanala was required, where it considered appropriate, to have regard to the "probable effect" which decisions on appeal would have on any "place" or "area" which was "outside the area of the relevant planning authority".
The court held that it was clearly intended by the Legislature that a planning authority or An Bord Pleanala should not be artificially confined to a catchment area defined by local authority boundaries.
The judge said that "area" might encompass areas larger or smaller, including, where appropriate, the entire territory of the State, and it might include, having regard to the breadth of the language used in the legislation, "areas" or "places" outside the territorial limits of the State.
Citizens who might be outside the territorial limits, such as sailors, fishermen or passengers on vessels, might be taken into account if a particular development in the functional area of a planning authority would have consequences for them, he said.
The court also concluded that An Bord Pleanala had, in arriving at its decision, taken Government policy into account, as it was not only entitled, but obliged to do. It accepted the High Court judge's view that An Bord Pleanala was entitled to take into account "the common good" in arriving at its decision. The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton, and Mr Justice Barrington agreed with the decision of Mr Justice Keane.