Efforts to develop a golf course at Inch Strand on the Dingle peninsula in Co Kerry have been rejected by Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche.
"The very strong advice to me remains that the development of a golf course at Inch is not compatible with the area's designation as a candidate Special Area of Conservation.
"Indeed were I to grant a consent to proceed the matter would undoubtedly become subject to legal action," the Minister said.
Campaigners say only a fraction of the 3½-mile sand spit would be used for a golf course and that social and economic factors must be taken into account alongside environmental arguments. They also point out that the development is much needed to create employment in west Kerry.
Course designer Dr Arthur Spring had also made detailed submissions to the National Parks and Wildlife Service last summer, Mr Roche notes in his letter to Mr Kennedy.
The Minister said he understood the local desire for development at Inch, but was obliged to point out that "with my responsibilities under national and European law for protecting these important sites, the best advice to me is that a golf course in this location is not appropriate."
The planning system would provide a separate independent mechanism for the proposal to be tested, Mr Roche suggests.
Local Fine Gael councillor Seamus Cosai Fitzgerald, who strongly supports the golf course campaign, has criticised the reply. The planning process had already been tried, he said, and the course rejected by An Bord Pleanála. The golf course would only amount to one-tenth of the 1,100 acres in the SAC, Cllr Fitz-gerald said.
"The Minister should have considered the concept of a golf course positively and the bringing of environmentalists together with a view to devising the best possible environmental regime for the site, which is something everyone wants," he said.
Dr Spring said yesterday he was convinced the golf course would save the Inch sand dunes from destruction. The sand spit was a natural golf course, and only the minimum work would be needed. he said.
Conservationists say the Inch dune system is one of the few in Europe actively renewing itself. Bernard Goggin, a member of An Taisce, said draining some of the system, bringing water on to it or erecting buildings or fences would interfere with the vital work of the waves on the beach.