Europe inquires into claim of failure to protect built heritage

The European Commission is conducting detailed inquiries into a formal complaint by Lancefort Ltd, the company in the front line of several high-profile planning battles, that Ireland has failed to protect its architectural heritage.

Lancefort has been informed by the Commission's environment directorate that it is examining "evidence of uncontrolled destruction of architectural character even in premier heritage towns such as Kinsale", aided by a tax incentive bias in favour of new buildings.

"More specifically", it says, "information has been requested on the appropriateness of funding the National Gallery extension as a cultural investment given the planned destruction of historic buildings" as well as the major leisure scheme planned for Carton Demesne in Co Kildare.

The Commission is concerned about the "compatibility of the proposed Carton House investment with the Tourism Programme's eligibility criterion of harmony with the local environment [and] its emphasis on the importance of tourism of Ireland's great houses and gardens".

In its letter to Lancefort, the Commission says it has made "detailed representations to the Irish authorities" on these matters as well as on Ireland's failure to mention "architectural heritage" in implementing the EU's environmental impact assessment (EIA) directive.

"Damage to, or destruction of, architectural heritage through demolition, facadism, inappropriate alteration and pastiche or out-ofscale intrusions into historic settings represents a form of environmental impact," according to the European Commission.

Accordingly, it has sought "detailed comments on the general policy, legal and administrative context in which this impact is addressed in Ireland" having regard to several factors which Lancefort maintains militate against heritage conservation in Ireland.

These include the "lack of a coherent national policy on architectural conservation, statutory shortcomings, institutional weaknesses, lack of economic support [and] the existence of policies, measures and back-up deficiencies inimical to conservation."

The Commission is seeking a response from the Irish authorities on the absence of specific reference to architectural heritage in regulations made here to implement the EIA directive as well as what guidelines, if any, have been given to planning authorities in dealing with the matter.

It is also seeking information on "how potential damage to, or destruction of, architectural heritage is being addressed" in the use of EU funds through the operational programmes for tourism and for local urban and rural development from 1994 to 1999.

The Commission wants this information because of the emphasis in the tourism programmes on promoting cultural heritage and the emphasis in development programmes on heritage-sensitive urban regeneration, "and the emphasis of both on environmental protection and sustainable development".

Apart from the Carton Demesne and National Gallery schemes, the cases being examined by the Commission include the demolition in 1993 of 18thcentury houses on Essex Quay in Dublin and the conversion of the nearby St Michael and John's Church into a Viking Adventure.

Mr Michael Smith, one of Lancefort's directors, said the Commission's intervention was by far the most important initiative taken by Brussels to make the Government face up to its responsibilities to protect the architectural heritage, particularly when EU funds were involved.

Dr Sara Dillon, of Friends of the Irish Environment, who lodged a similar complaint with the European Commission, said its response was "a very important step in bringing Ireland's architectural preservation policies into line with protection accorded to the rest of Europe".

She said the omission of "architectural heritage" from the scope of the EIA regulations represented a "critical failure" by the Government" because, unlike most European countries, Ireland lacked "any firm national legislation to protect the national heritage".

The Department of the Environment confirmed last night that it was now considering the Commission's "complaint". It also said a comprehensive package of measures to protect the built environment would be brought to the Government within the next few weeks.