The battle over vertigio angustior and its impact on a £12.5 million golf development, is approaching a climax. This is the rare, Narrow Mouth Whorl Snail - all two millimetres of it - which has been discovered on the site of a proposed links to be designed by Greg Norman at Doonbeg, Co Clare.

An oral hearing by An Bord Pleanala is scheduled for June 8th, 9th and 10th and a final decision on the issue is expected in late July. Developments will be watched with interest by golfcourse architects such as Tralee-based Arthur Spring. "When we were laying out the at Castlegregory, objectors claimed we would wipe out the natterjack toad, which is also a protected species," he said.

Spring went on: "We were able to give an assurance, however, that the opposite would be the case. And we were correct. The toad, in fact, has multiplied in its thousands. So I don't see why the snail at Doonbeg can't survive and indeed thrive in a golfing environment."

The potential of the Doonbeg site was originally noted by Shannon Development, which bought 377 acres from four farmers for a reported £2.2 million. They, in turn, sold the property on to the Irish National Golf Club, a subsidiary of the American company, Landmark National, which built the Kiawah Island course. Christy O'Connor Jnr was originally engaged as the architect on the project but as its profile heightened to include a 51-bedroom hotel, conference centre and 80 holiday homes, the Shark was signed up. Meanwhile, there was the promise of £2.4 million in structural funds.

Problems arose, however, from the fact that the site was designated a special area of conservation by Duchas, the Heritage Service. In the upcoming oral hearing, an inspector of the board will meet representatives of Landmark and from the objectors - the Heritage Council, An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment. Depending on the board's decision in July, the matter could go on to become the subject of a judicial review, but that is considered unlikely.

Doonbeg, whose majestic duneland is situated on the West Clare coast between Lahinch and Kikee, is thought to offer one of the last, great links sites in these islands. Indeed local wisdom is that it was a toss-up whether it, or Lahinch would be developed as a championship venue, more than 100 years ago.

Naturally, there would have been no mention at that time of our little friend, vertigio angustior, humorously referred to as Angus. Ironically, it was unearthed, in a manner of speaking, by a survey carried out by Landmark two months ago. And where ecologists are concerned, size doesn't matter: they consider it to be part of an ecological chain which affects our very survival.

Under European law, the only justification for the course going ahead would be "over-riding public importance." But it is significant that under pressure from the developers, Brussels have reduced the area designated for conservation from 372 to 51 acres. Which now makes the snail's environment only adjacent to the proposed course, as opposed to being actually a part of it.