Racehorse trainer Mr Aidan O'Brien has threatened to leave Ireland if a planned incinerator near his stables in Ballydoyle, Co Tipperary, goes ahead.
Mr O'Brien, whose horses finished in the top three places in yesterday's Irish Derby at the Curragh, said he would move because of the potential impact on the health of his family and the horses trained by him. Planning permission for the incinerator, to be built by National By-Products at its existing rendering plant in Rosegreen, near Cashel, was granted by South Tipperary County Council last month.
A large number of appeals against the decision have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála. The incinerator would be used to dispose of animal meat-and-bone meal as well as risk materials taken out of the food chain as a result of the BSE scare. The company has stressed that no BSE-infected material would be processed there and says the facility would give rise to no unclean emissions.
Mr O'Brien, however, claimed the incinerator would cause pollution and would be a health hazard for both people and horses. Minutes after a clean sweep in yesterday's Budweiser Irish Derby, Mr O'Brien said he was willing to leave Ireland and train in the US.
The trainer said he will not live next to the incinerator being planned beside the world-famous Ballydoyle stables. "I wouldn't, under any circumstances, rear a family near one of them and I wouldn't expect anyone else to either," Mr O'Brien said.
"I wouldn't live within a 40 km radius of these things. Everyone knows their history and that in seven or eight years time there are going to be problems."
South Tipperary County Council has granted planning permission for an incinerator in the village of Rosegreen. As well as Ballydoyle, the well known Coolmore Stud is located nearby. An Bord Pleanála is expected to make a decision on an appeal shortly.
A group of 37 Tipperary doctors has also expressed strong opposition to the incinerator, and has lodged an appeal.
The issue is expected to be discussed at today's meeting of South Tipperary Co Council.