The long-running Mullaghmore controversy looks set to continue following a decision by Clare County Council yesterday to defer a vote on the revised planning application for development at Mullaghmore for six months.
Subject to the Office of Public Works - acting on this issue as agents for the Department of the Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands - agreeing to the deferral, a vote on the long-running saga will not take place until May 1998.
The 32 members of the council were expected to vote yesterday on the OPW's revised application, lodged in October of last year, for development at Mullaghmore in the Burren National Park.
However, a Fianna Fail-backed proposal yesterday "to allow the people of north Clare come together with the Minister for the Arts to seek a solution to the problem" ensured a deferral of the vote in the Fianna Fail-dominated council chamber.
Cllr Michael Kelly (FF), who proposed the deferral, added "There should be a deferral to give this peace initiative a chance."
The proposal led to anger in the council chamber. Cllr Martin Lafferty (Lab) said "We are helping to aid the unauthorised development by the OPW in doing this. We are making a laughing stock of the planning process."
Independent Cllr Patricia McCarthy said there could be legal implications as a result of deferral. "We are in a very grey area and we cannot be seen to be letting the OPW do what they want to do."
In a statement last night, the Burren Action Group, which has strongly opposed any development at the Mullaghmore site, said "It is obvious that the proposed amendment to the development plan to build an interpretative centre at Mullaghmore does not have the required support of Clare's elected councillors.
"This has forced the OPW and Fianna Fail into increasingly unreasonable panic-stricken measures. They would have lost the vote today but deliberately engineered the avoidance of a vote and are now attempting to delay a decision until a new county development plan can be adopted.
"In the meantime, the Burren will be left without adequate visitor facilities and the economy and environment of the region will suffer."