The Minister for Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, was yesterday refused a perpetual injunction stopping works likely to injure flora and fauna on a site in the dunes and lands at Inch Spit, near Castlemaine Harbour, Dingle Bay, Co Kerry.
In October, the Minister asked for the order, saying the site was one of major ecological importance. According to an annexe to a habitats directive, the area at Inch Spit is described as the most intact example of a dune system in the region, with a rich range of habitats and species.
The land's owners, Mr James Kennedy, a builder, and his wife Patricia, of Grove Street, Tarrytown, Westchester, New York, and Mr John Kennedy, (a brother of Mr James Kennedy), of The Maum, Camp, Annascaul, Co Kerry, caretaker of the lands, had opposed the application for a permanent order.
In seeking a permanent injunction, the Minister argued the lands form part of an area of special conservation and said some development had already taken place for the layout of a golf course. She opposed what she believed would be more development.
Ms de Valera in March 1997 obtained an interim injunction against Mr John Kennedy from engaging in any works on the lands which, she said, constituted a special area of conservation (SAC).
When seeking a permanent order in October, the Minister claimed the defendants, or some of them along with Mr Arthur Spring, of Golf Design Ltd, had lobbied Kerry County Council for a decision that development of an 18-hole golf course, clubhouse and other facilities on the lands at Inch Spit constituted an exempt development.