The Columban Missionaries have criticised a plan to route a motorway through their land in Co Meath. They claim the proposed by-pass of Navan and Dunshaughlin will cause the destruction of parkland visited by 30,000 people a year.
The project, a 45-kilometre motorway proposed under the National Development Plan, is the subject of a Bord Pleanála oral hearing due in Drogheda next week. A local residents' group in Bellinter, neighbouring the Columban Missionaries' headquarters near Navan, also objects to the planned route.
Father Pat Raleigh, the Columban Missionaries' peace and justice co-ordinator, said the society would lose about 50 acres at Dalgan Park, on the Dublin side of Navan, if the motorway went ahead. Their main concern, however, was the loss of "peace and tranquility" and destruction of local amenities.
The society's 540-acre farm is at the foot of the historic Hill of Tara. Father Raleigh said the farm supported the society's missionary work in Asia and Latin America.
In addition to the farm, however, it had developed six kilometres of woodlands and riverside walks in recent years, with the assistance of FÁS.
This had helped make the land a popular amenity area for local people. "It is not a public park but we are very pleased that the people in the local community can enjoy the amenities and the facilities of the place."
In recent weeks, the society had received some 200 letters from people supporting its objections to the route.
Mr Michael Egan, head of corporate affairs with the National Roads Authority, said the route selected had been considered the most acceptable on a number of grounds. These included environmental, engineering, traffic and cost considerations.
"The overall impact on the environment and people of the area was fully taken on board," he said.
Meath County Council had done everything possible to take the Columban Missionaries' concerns on board. It was a matter for An Bord Pleanála to adjudicate on the concerns and the planning authorities would have to justify the route selected, he said.
