Dr Seamus Caulfield, the archaeologist who is best known for his work on the Céide Fields in Mayo, has sprung to the defence of the Minister of State for Rural Development, Mr Eamon Ó Cuív, in the debate over planning.
Dr Caulfield criticised An Taisce for seeking Mr Ó Cuív's resignation, and said he was doing an "excellent job". Dr Caulfield has also called for the "delisting" of An Taisce as a designated body under the Planning Acts, following a similar demand from Mayo councillors.
Dr Caulfield is a member of the Council for the West and the Department of Environment expert advisory group linked to the National Spatial Strategy, but he stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity.
An Taisce rejected the criticism and has called for a radical reappraisal of planning and development in Mayo. Late last month An Taisce called for Mr Ó Cuív's resignation, accusing him of "voodoo planning theories".
Dr Caulfield said he fully supports the councillors' decision because "this once highly respected body has forfeited its right to the position of responsibility granted to it by the Department of the Environment".
He stressed that he supports strict planning laws, including control of ribbon development, and said anyone demanding a "free-for-all" doesn't deserve a hearing.
Dr Caulfield disputed the statistics cited by An Taisce, that 36 per cent of new housing is in the countryside, of which 80 to 90 per cent is "one off", while only 1 per cent of the 50 per cent plus new housing in the greater Dublin area is "one-off".
"These figures are grossly erroneous," he said. "The percentage of houses built in the Greater Dublin Area has declined from 41 per cent in 1996 to less than 32 per cent in 2000. The percentage of one-off houses is considerably higher than 1 per cent in the Greater Dublin Area and in fact this is one area where a real problem may exist." He said there was no evidence to show a decline in the number of families in towns and villages.
An Taisce "refuses to accept that the term 'village' has a wider meaning in Ireland than it does in Britain," Dr Caulfield maintained. In Ireland, the definition includes the sráidbhaile or street village, the clachan or nucleated village and the baile fearann or dispersed village, he said.
"One third of the total population of the State and half of the population outside the Greater Dublin Area live in dispersed village communities. But according to An Taisce these people do not live in village communities but live instead in one-off houses in the countryside."
"As average household size decreases from its current level of approximately three people per household to an expected two-and-a-half over the next decade, and even if only 5 per cent of the housing stock was lost through obsolescence during this decade, An Taisce's proposed ban on rural housing would result in a massive decline in the predominant form of rural settlement in Ireland and the one which has the longest tradition stretching back into prehistory," he said.
"As only 10 per cent of the population of dispersed villages are classified as farmers, the exception for farmers which An Taisce is willing to make is irrelevant.
"The refusal of An Taisce to recognise the legitimacy of the predominant form of rural settlement in Ireland, and the disgraceful response of using disgracefully abusive language in referring to a Minister of State . . . shows clear evidence that this body is not prepared to listen to any other viewpoint which is at variance with its own preconceptions," he says.
Dr Caulfield said he had great respect for the North-Western Regional Fisheries Board, but thought it was "too rigid" in its planning opposition - specifically on possible septic tank risks from individual houses, when " the Environmental Protection Agency says that they are acceptable in certain conditions".
Responding, Mr Ian Lumley of An Taisce said Mayo County Council was working from a 1992 development plan which is "legally redundant", and its level of permissions for one-off houses and ribbon development is "contrary to a number of European and Government policies".
"These houses are of suburban, rather than rural character and a significant proportion are being occupied as holiday or second homes," he said, and the case for housing farmers' children was undermined by the amount of houses and sites sold off by indigenous landowners, to the detriment of the local communities.
"The proliferation of unserviced, one-off houses in Co Mayo, unrelated to existing village settlements, is resulting in a dispersal of septic tanks affecting drinking water quality and fisheries. It is creating car-dependent suburban strips rather than sustainable rural communities," Mr Lumley said.