The chairman of Buncrana GAA club yesterday refused to comment on a claim that the recently completed extension of a football pitch at the club's ground at Scarvey has resulted in the destruction of a riverside walk along the town's Mill River.
A spokesperson for the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources confirmed yesterday that the development was carried out "without a required foreshore licence", and added that the work "had impacted on the river bank".
Mr Seán Masterson, the club's chairman, admitted that "we took the bank away". He added: "That's all I have to say on the matter".
The chairman of the Buncrana Environmental Group, Mr Brendan McLaughlin, said years of regeneration work by volunteers had been destroyed.
"A 100 yards long stretch of the Mill River bank has been destroyed, a section of a beautiful riverside walk has disappeared under rubble. The river, which is tidal and which has been fished for generations, has been narrowed and, as a result, the passage for salmon and trout has been interfered with," he said.
"For the last five years volunteers, many of them young people, have cleared out the overgrown riverbanks and planted hundreds of oak, beech, chestnut and silver birch trees as well as flowers and bushes. Since our work started we've seen the return of otters, kingfishers, dippers, hawks and other birds of prey to this area. Now a lot of that good work lies under tonnes of development works."
Schools had become involved in restoring the wildlife habitat. "The schoolchildren loved helping us out. They were able to see the results of their endeavours and, like the rest of us in the group, they're disgusted at what has happened to a section of the river bank. It's ironic that a GAA club, which provides a healthy way of life for so many young people, should have undermined the good work being done by youngsters," he said.
"Over the years these young people pulled shopping trolleys and bicycles by the dozen out of the river. They put up bird and squirrel boxes, planted trees and flowers and they restored the area to a lovely riverside walk, but now part of that walk has been destroyed."
He said the group had asked the President, Mrs McAleese, to open the walk in May. "Half of phase one has been destroyed but we're going ahead with phases two and three and hopefully the opening will go ahead."
In a letter to Mr McLaughlin, the Minister, Mr Ahern, said he had passed on his letter of complaint "to the Coastal Zone Management Division of my Department for appropriate action".
A spokesperson for the Minister said the Department "wrote to the GAA club on January 20th telling them they needed a foreshore licence to carry out the work which impacted on the river bank. The letter included an application form but we have not heard anything back from the club, nor have we received a reply".