Mountain beyond gain, farmer tells planning hearing

Mullaghmore should be above and beyond any type of financial gain and should be left alone for future generations to experience it the way it is experienced today.

That is the view of local farmer Mr Patrick McCormack, who was speaking on behalf of the Burren Action Group on the fifth day of an An Bord Pleanala oral hearing into the appeal by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, against Clare County Council's decision to refuse planning permission for visitor facilities at Mullaghmore.

One of seven plaintiffs from the action group who launched a successful High Court action which halted construction work at the original interpretative centre in 1993, Mr McCormack said he greatly feared the effect of the proposed development on his family, lifestyle and farming practices.

In a passionate address to the hearing in Ennis yesterday, Mr McCormack said: "We're ordinary people, living ordinary lives with no open chequebooks behind us to fund this.

"We are doing it for one reason, and that reason is based on love, love of a mountain, love of an area that we feel is above and beyond any type of financial gain; and it should be left alone for future generations to experience it the way it is experienced today."

Mr McCormack, who lives one mile from the proposed development, said one of his greatest gifts in life was having an intimate knowledge of the Mullaghmore landscape. "We do not want to keep it for ourselves, we want to share it, but in a gentle way."

Board inspector Mr Tom O'Connor also heard from farmer Mr James Howard, a member of the action group and a plaintiff in the 1993 High Court Action.

He said he was the nearest neighbour of the Office of Public Works at Mullaghmore and was not consulted about the centre. "As a family, we have deep respect for the landscape and wish to pass it on as we received it. A centre attracting thousands of people each year will interfere terribly with the way we use our land because of extra cars and buses, litter, noise and road-widening," he said.

In a submission to the oral hearing on behalf of the Heritage Council, wildlife officer Mr Liam Lysaght said the proposed development might create more problems that it would solve.

Mr Lysaght claimed there was a real risk of the proposal falling between two stools - far short of the full-blown interpretative centre, but unsatisfying for the more independent visitor which the proposed entry point was likely to attract.