Claims by the former US senator, Mr George Mitchell, that a US company planning a luxury golf resort scheme for Doonbeg, Co. Clare, has a creditable environmental record at home have been challenged by American environmentalists.
The developers' US record has been called into question on the eve of an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanala of an appeal by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) against Clare County Council's decision to grant planning permission for the Doonbeg scheme.
Senator Mitchell is chairman of Irish National Golf Club Ltd, a subsidiary of the US company, Landmark National, which wants to develop a Greg Norman-designed golf resort at White Strand, Doonbeg.
In a letter to An Bord Pleanala, Mr Mitchell said that Landmark National was "noted for its civic spirit in the United States, particularly in the area of the environment". He insisted that it was determined to develop Doonbeg to "good planning and environmental standards".
FIE posted Senator Mitchell's comments on its Internet web-site, where it was spotted by a US environmental group, the East Branch Conservancy in Prince George's County, Maryland, formed last year to oppose another project by Landmark National.
The US environmental group has pointed out that the company plans to build a 238-acre Presidential Golf Course, as part of a larger resort scheme in the area, with a potentially negative impact on the survival of an endangered indigenous species of fish, the Stripeback Darter (Percina noto gramma).
According to a senior official of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, "further study is necessary to determine the possible extent of harm to the Stripeback Darter" before a final decision can be made on Landmark National's planning application.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which has also been critical of the Maryland scheme, said that several holes of the golf course were planned next to non-tidal wetland buffers, with potential run-off of both storm water and chemicals into the areas inhabited by the Stripeback Darter.
The foundation has also expressed concern about the environmental impact of building up to 2,400 houses and an equestrian centre in the proposed scheme, saying that this would have implications for the East Branch watershed and Chesapeake Bay itself.
The East Branch Conservancy has told FIE of its fears that effluent from the Beech Tree development - including Landmark National's golf course - would have a negative impact on waterways in the area as well as changing the habitat of an endangered species.
FIE said that the Stripeback Darter was very like the small-mouthed snail (V. angustior) at Doonbeg: "Both were discovered after the site was selected, both are endangered, and in both cases the developer was unwilling to make the necessary concessions to protect its habitat."
Mr Bernard McHugh, planning consultant for Landmark National's Doonbeg project, has told An Bord Pleanala that the golf course scheme planned for the rare dune system of White Strand had been amended to meet the "exacting requirements" of Duchas.
"It is extremely difficult for Irish National Golf Club Ltd to make any further amendments to its golf course layout and still have the development classified as a championship links course designed by Greg Norman", Mr McHugh said in a letter to the appeals board.
However, he said that the developers were prepared to give "all reasonable undertakings necessary to ensure that their management of the golf club and the adjoining candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC) will be such as to ensure the protection of V. angustior".
An Bord Pleanala's oral hearing of FIE's appeal opens this morning in Ennis. Among those who will give evidence are representatives of Shannon Development, which has strongly promoted the proposed development from the outset.
