This article is from page 7 of the 2005-11-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
OVER €300,000 has been spent on storing an obsolete mast once proposed for Loop Head.
Throughout the 1990s, the Cross Loran C Action Group in west Clare staved off Gov- ernment efforts to erect the 720 ft Loran C mast. And in response to a Dail question, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey confirmed that it has cost €326,000 to store the mast over the past five years on the outskirts of Paris.
A spokesman for the Loran C group said this week, “Action should have been taken a number of years ago by the Government to dispose of the mast rather than continue to pay these storage costs.
“The reasons now being put forward by the Department as to why Loran C will not be go- ing ahead are the same reasons put forward by the Action Group ten years ago, the primary one being that no one would use the system. The Government knew this, yet persisted with the project at huge cost”.
Green Party councillor, Brian Meaney said, “This is an appalling squandering of money and further evidence of the Government’s lack of care in spending taxpayer’s money.”
Minister Dempsey confirmed that the mast will not be erected on Loop Head or any other Irish location: “Ireland, along with Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, has denounced the North West Europe and North Atlantic Loran C System – NELS – Agree- ment. Denunciation takes legal effect from December 31, 2005”’.
The mast, consisting of an antenna and transmitter, cost €1.9 million and was pur- chased by France and the Netherlands as per an international agreement. The Irish Govern- ment purchased 137 acres at Loop Head, cost-
ing €479,000, for the project, though €13,530 has been recouped in grazing rights over the past three years.
Since 1992, when plans for the mast were first announced, the proposal became ensnared in the planning and legal process due to strong opposition from the Cross Loran C Action Group on health and environmental grounds. Minister Dempsey confirmed that the project has cost €561,000 in legal and planning fees.
The development received the go-ahead from An Bord Pleanala in 1994. However, plans were frustrated by the action group af- ter High Court and Supreme Court victories in 1995 and 1996. In April 1998, the Supreme Court finally paved the way for construction of the mast. The Government agreed that special legislation would have to go before the Oire- achtas, but never moved to enact such legisla- tion. Ownership of the mast was transferred to France in April this year, with the agreement of the Netherlands.
Asked why the Government withdrew from the agreement governing Loran C, a Depart- ment spokesman said: “NELS failed to inter- est the EU in using Loran-C as an augmen- tation system to Galileo, aimed at reducing dependence on GPS. The project has also been hampered by the failure to mass-produce a low cost receiver.
“This placed the whole future of Loran C in doubt and all work on an Irish mast was suspended. A review of Ireland’s marine radio navigation policy was undertaken in Decem- ber 2002. This showed no overwhelming sup- port for Loran C among maritime users. Fol- lowing a Government decision in September 2004, Ireland denounced the agreement”.
He added that future use of the land will be decided upon after a six month winding up ere lorem