Landslide estimated to have already cost State €100,000

The south Galway landslide has already cost the State some €100,000, according to preliminary estimates from Galway County Council.

No injuries to people or houses were reported in the Derrybrien peat slide of October 16th.

Meanwhile, in north Mayo, the cost of emergency remedial works is already running at a third of the figure awarded by the Government in humanitarian aid following the recent landslides in Pollathomas and Glengad.

Yesterday the €300,000 in aid announced by Minister of State for the Office of Public Works, Mr Tom Parlon, was described as insufficient by the Pollathomas landslide committee chairman, Mr Brian Wilson.

Seven families still cannot return home, and claims for €620,000 in lost livestock and land have been lodged with the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).

"We welcome the monies given by Minister Parlon, but this will not in any way compensate for the agricultural losses, on which people depend for their livelihoods," Mr Wilson said.

Mayo County Council has estimated that some €5 million will be required to build protection works and to rebuild bridges and roads, and so far some €2.5 million has been earmarked by the Department of the Environment for road infrastructure.

"We believe that the priority has to be the protection works, as the Taoiseach had acknowledged when he visited this area," Mr Wilson said yesterday.

The Minister of State said he was "acutely aware" of the distress arising from damage caused by the landslides. He said he had already committed machinery and personnel to help with the initial clean-up. The €300,000 in humanitarian aid would be distributed by the Irish Red Cross, and the first cheques would be received by the end of this week.

In south Galway, construction work at the ESB's €60 million windfarm at Derrybrien has been suspended for another fortnight to allow for further site appraisal by Galway County Council.

The local authority estimates that it has already spent some €100,000 to date on emergency works in the Slieve Aughty mountain area since the landslide occurred over a month ago. This includes payment of some €37,000 to consultants engaged by the local authority.

Galway County Council had expected to receive a report from BMA Geoservices Ltd yesterday, but the county manager, Mr Donal O'Donoghue, said that it would be another week to 10 days before a full site appraisal was ready.

He denied claims by local residents that consultants working for the developer were meeting his own consultants to exchange information. Any such information might only be exchanged informally on site, he said.

In a separate development, the local authority has approved extensions to several key pieces of planning permission sought by the developers, the ESB subsidiary Hibernian Wind Power, shortly before the major peat slide occurred through Coillte forestry on October 16th.

All work on the 71-turbine project has been suspended since then while investigations and remedial works continue.