Planning permission granted for Clifden airstrip

Planning permission has been granted for the construction of an airstrip near Clifden, Co Galway, following what was described by a local county councillor as a "14-year struggle".

The decision has been met with "huge disappointment" by conservation groups, who had raised concerns over damage to local peat boglands.

This sets to rights the imbalance between the English and Irish-speaking islands, which have had an air link for 30 years. Mr JJ Mannion, Director of Clifden and West Connemara Airport Company

The airstrip at Cloon, Connemara, is hoped to be completed within two years at a cost of £1.2 million. This money is expected to come from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, which has been supporting the project.

It is intended to serve the islands of Inisbofin, Clare Island and Inishturk, as well as provide an air link to Dublin and Galway City.

Mr JJ Mannion, the director of the Clifden and West Connemara Airport Company, described the decision by An Bord Pleanála today as bringing a "glorious day to Connemara".

Mr Mannion, also a Galway county councillor, said that an airstrip in the region was an "essential element of infrastructure" to the local tourist economy. All other major tourist areas in the West of Ireland, such as Kerry, Donegal, Clare and the Aran Islands, were served by air, he added.

"This sets to rights the imbalance between the English and Irish-speaking islands, which have had an air link for 30 years," he said.

Mr Mannion said actual employment at the airstrip would be minimal, but the local economy would prosper greatly by the development.

"I am mesmerised by how it took 14 years to get planning permission," he said.

The fact that the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, which runs Dúchas, was so in favour of the project displays a serious conflict of interest. Mr Patrick Crushell, Irish Peatland Conservation Council

The airstrip was the subject of a three-day An Bord Pleanála oral hearing last October, which heard a number of submissions on the proposed development.

Mr Patrick Crushell from the Irish Peatland Conservation Council told ireland.comthat the airstrip would cause "irreperable damage" to local bogland.

He accused Dúchas, the nature conservation agency, of not fulfilling its responsibilities to protect the area.

"The fact that the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, which runs Dúchas, was so in favour of the project displays a serious conflict of interest," said Mr Crushell.