NEW PLANS for a contentious €6 million pier at Doolin in north Clare will not be lodged until next year.
Clare County Council had initially planned that the pier, which operates as a gateway to the Aran Islands, would be in place by the end of this year.
Council members gave the plan the go-ahead earlier this year.
Last month An Bord Pleanála ruled that the council must reapply for planning permission for the pier and prepare an environmental impact statement.
The appeals board decision arose from a submission from surfers who fear that the planned pier will destroy “world-class” waves at Crab Island and Doolin Point, near the proposed pier.
Footprint’s European guide to surfing has likened the Crab Island wave as Ireland’s answer to the legendary Pipeline wave in Hawaii.
The council official overseeing the project, Tom Tiernan, said it would take “four to five months” to prepare the impact statement and the council would lodge the application early in 2012. He hoped the pier would be in place for the 2013 tourist season.
