THE Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht has attempted to dampen down speculation that the Government is about to reverse or modify its controversial decision to proceed with the Mutton Island sewage treatment plant in Galway.
Speaking in advance of meeting the Save Galway Bay (SGB) group in Galway last night, Mr Higgins said he would listen to the concerns of those opposed to the Mutton Island location for the £23 million plant.
He confirmed, nevertheless, that his Department was prepared to examine if it was possible to resolve concerns about the impact of a causeway from the mainland to the island, the impact of the plant on the island and visual amenity.
"There have been so many statements to and fro. It will be useful to hear in detail what are the differences in evidences. We will see where are the points of accommodation. This is just an opening meeting. We can have another if it proves useful", he said.
SGB said it would be reiterating its opposition to what it perceived as Mr Higgins's U turn on the issue of location and its concern about a project opposed by environmental interests and the Labour party in the Galway West constituency. Work on the 900 metre causeway is due to begin this summer.
The Minister, it is understood, is prepared to examine SGB's objections and if some concerns can be assuaged, to pursue the matter with the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, who has direct responsibility for the project. He approved it despite the environmental reservations of the European Commission.
There have been unofficial indications of possible modifications to the project, notably concerning the causeway, according to SGB spokesman, Mr John Cunningham.
Last night's meeting coincided a call from residents groups and development associations on the east side of the city for a speedy development of Mutton Island on environmental grounds.
They also claimed that "the alternative location" referred to by the European Commission - which is in their locality at Lough Atalia - was unacceptable.
It would mean that an end toe the discharge of raw sewage into Galway Bay would not occur until well into the next century, as an Environmental Impact Statement had yet to be carried out there. A decision to proceed at Lough Atalia was also likely to challenged in the courts.
The spokesman for Lough Atalia Development Association - and Renmore, Tara Grove and Wellpark Residents' Associations, Mr Norbert Sheerin, said they believed their support forthe Mutton Island plant was "shared by the vast majority of business and tourism interests, and, indeed, popular opinion in Galway".