Action to remove the anti-road widening protesters camped at the Glen of the Downs in Co Wicklow is imminent, the county council has confirmed.
The protesters, who style themselves as eco-warriors defending nature, have been living in a makeshift camp and, in some cases, on tented platforms erected high in a number of trees in the hope of frustrating plans to widen the N11 through the glen.
It has become a bottleneck for traffic. There have been a number of serious accidents in recent years as the volume of vehicles has increased.
After a lengthy legal battle - which has yet to reach a conclusion - it is understood that Wicklow County Council officials have resolved to take direct action to remove the protesters, some of whom have been in the glen for years. It is believed that a crew hired by the council will move into the glen within days to fell the 1,700 trees which have been at the centre of the dispute between the anti-roads protesters and the county council since 1987.
The protesters are appealing to the Supreme Court over a High Court defeat for their demand for a review of the road-widening scheme. The delay in starting the work, which has been caused by the protesters' action, has pushed the cost of the scheme from an estimated £18.5 million to more than £20 million.
The council gave an undertaking to the High Court that it would not attempt to proceed with its tree-felling activities pending a High Court decision. It was widely assumed that this undertaking would remain until the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal.
However, it is understood legal advice supplied to the protesters recently confirmed that the council is now under no obligation legally to delay any longer its plans for the road-widening scheme between the southern end of the glen and Kilmacanogue village.
Sources close to the council told The Irish Times yesterday that arrangements were being put in place to remove the trees. Yesterday the Wicklow county secretary, Mr Brian Doyle, said the council had "every intention of going ahead with the tree-felling" and was "in no way prohibited by the Supreme Court appeal".
He said: "We have been preparing for this, tying up loose ends on ownership of the lands et cetera for some time and that is nearly done. We intend to go ahead in the very near future."
What resistance the council can experience from the protesters is not clear. The camp has been quiet, with only a minimal number of protesters staying there for more than a year now, since the High Court undertakings were given in January 1998.
However, a number of protesters have been seen to be making "lock-ons", a device to facilitate chaining themselves to trees using tyres, pipes and cement. Early in the campaign there was some talk of trees being "spiked" with nails, a practice which would make it extremely dangerous to fell a tree using a chain saw. Many protesters have denied involvement in tree-spiking.
A number of tree-top shelters and rope-ways have been constructed between trees, while the protesters have vowed to remain aloft in a bid to block felling crews.
It is thought that if the council moves against the protesters they might seek an injunction.
