No plans for Clifden airstrip received

Duchas, the Heritage Service, has confirmed that it has received no details from the backers of a proposed airstrip at Clifden, Co Galway, even though it is now canvassing views on a land swap to facilitate the development.

Mr Paul Hughes of Clifden Airport Company, who was one of the key movers behind the original controversial plan for an airport on Roundstone bog, also confirmed this week that no plans had been submitted to Duchas.

However, Mr Hughes said that he was confident of the support of the Minister of State for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Mr Eamon O Cuiv.

Notices placed by Duchas in the local press the week before last gave a deadline of March 2nd for the submission of views on a proposed land swap. The advertisements came some nine years after the original plan was first mooted for Roundstone bog, a prime blanket bog and one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in Europe.

The new location is on Stateowned land at Derrygimlagh, which forms part of the site of the historic Marconi radio station. The area is degraded bogland, according to Duchas. The exact location within this site has not been decided, Mr Hughes said. "We await advice from the experts in Duchas on this," he said.

Galway County Council refused planning permission for the original project, when the OPW designated the 80-acre site as an Area of Scientific Interest (ASI). In May 1993, the Supreme Court upheld a High Court decision that the OPW was wrong on constitutional grounds to designate it as an ASI.

However, the promoters announced that they would be abandoning the project; and the bogland, with its white-fronted geese, merlins and peregrine falcons, was designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Mr Tim Robinson of the Save Roundstone Bog group has said that the proposed site is worse than the original choice, because it borders on an SAC and is continuous with the heart of Roundstone bog. The Irish Peatland Conservation Council echoed this view.

Roundstone bog's international heritage value has been compared to that of Egypt's pyramids, while its birdlife includes several species listed under EU directives. The Derrygimlagh area is primarily of historical rather than environmental significance. The developers contend that the airstrip will facilitate Mayo and Galway islanders; however, tourism is the main motivation for the project.

Mr O Cuiv has stressed that the proposal is at a consultative stage and the emphasis is on finding an acceptable compromise. He has said that island development depends on good air links, and he is examining the provision of strips on Inishbofin, Inishturk and Clare Island in north Mayo.