Duchas opposes environmentalist's Burren house plan

Dúchas, the State Heritage Service, is leading the opposition against plans by one of the country's best known environmentalists, Mr John O'Donoghue, to build a home in the Burren, Co Clare.

As chairman of the Burren Action Group, Mr O'Donoghue was a pivotal figure in the successful 10-year campaign against State plans to build an interpretative centre at Mullaghmore in the Burren National Park. It would have been managed by Dúchas.

Now, however, in an ironic footnote to the Mullaghmore controversy, Dúchas has recommended to Clare County Council that it refuse planning permission to Mr O'Donoghue to build a home at his family holding at Furmoyle, Ballyvaughan, north Clare.

It claims Mr O'Donoghue's proposal "will destroy habitats such as limestone pavement and orchid-rich, semi-natural grassland", claims denied in submissions lodged by Mr O'Donoghue.

Mr O'Donoghue lives in Connemara, and along with his environmental activism is a best-selling author with his work Anam Cara.

In a passionate submission to the council, Mr O'Donoghue said that his proposed home was "the doorway to coming home for me".

That has cut no sway with Dúchas, however, who recommend that outline planning permission be refused "in order to conserve priority habitats and preserve the ecological value of the candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC)".

A native of the north Clare area and no longer a practising priest, Mr O'Donoghue has told the council: "I am not a stranger. This is our valley. Our family has farmed and lived here for centuries."

He added: "The memory, aesthetic and mystical presence of this landscape really moves me; it is from this source that the writing issues. My native landscape is at the heart of it for me. I do not have to imagine myself into the way of life here; I was born within it. I belong within it and know it from the inside.

"I have no other site or home on this land. I look forward to being able to live here among my own people and contributing some of what I have learned and experienced over the years to my own community...I wish in no way to injure the environment. I will do everything possible to avoid this."

In his bid to secure planning, Mr O'Donoghue has recruited Burren expert Mr Gordon d'Arcy, who has concluded in an accompanying Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that the site is assuming an environmental sympathetic design - Mr O'Donoghue was previously refused planning by the council on the same site.

The bid to ensure that Mr O'Donoghue receives planning was also aired at this month's meeting of the council, where councillors on the opposing sides of the Mullaghmore issue pleaded on his behalf. They criticised what they see as the interference of Dúchas in planning in the Burren.

The council has requested Dúchas to respond to Mr O'Donoghue's rebuttal to its claims over the impact the development will have on the limestone pavement and orchid-rich grassland.

A decision is expected by the council in April.