McKenna objects to EU funding for golf course in area inhabited by threatened snail

Dublin Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna last night urged the European Commission to withdraw funding of £2.4 million for the £12.5 million golf resort, designed by Greg Norman, at Doonbeg, Co Clare.

The European Commission said yesterday the project should not begin until issues in relation to a proposed Special Area of Conservation, adjacent to the site, are resolved.

Earlier this week the Commission received a copy of a report commissioned by Duchas, which recommends the proposed SAC be substantially increased due to the presence of the protected snail, vertigo angustior. The report, which was obtained by the Friends of the Irish Environment under the Freedom of Information Act, concluded that over two-thirds of the area where the snail occurs was not included in the protected area.

The report, which was not made available to An Bord Pleanala when it approved the project in July, recommended the SAC boundaries be redrawn to include all the areas inhabited by the snail.

Ms McKenna said: "The proposed use of EU funding for the destruction of a sand-dune system and wetland on a Special Area of Conservation is totally unacceptable and I believe that when the EU has had an opportunity to examine this whole project it will feel compelled to refuse funding."

In response to a Dail question the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, said: "There was no obligation to provide this report to An Bord Pleanala as the determination as to what land will be proposed for designation as an SAC is not a matter in which An Bord Pleanala has a role."

She also said a report that was made available to the board provided it with sufficient data in relation to habitat and species to assess the application from an environmental point of view.

A spokesman for Duchas said it was satisfied that with some minor amendments, a management plan drawn up by the developers would provide the basis for securing the future of the snail at Doonbeg.