POLITICIANS in Co Meath have been warned that 2,000 residents will use their votes to ensure that Dunshaughlin is not selected for a anew landfill dump site.
It is one of four areas short listed by consultants for Meath County Council. The present dump at Basketstown is reaching the end of its life and the consultants have recommended either Dunshaughlin, Kentstown, Wilkinstown or Skryne as possible locations for the new site.
However, three landowners in Kentstown have taken Circuit Court action to stop the consultants, M.C. O'Sullivan, from testing on their lands for suitability. A decision on that action is expected later this week.
Dunshauglin dump campaigners protested outside county buildings in Navan yesterday as councillors arrived for their monthly meeting.
"We plan to keep up our campaign and our political protest. We have 2,000 signatures of voting intentions and we will use our votes in general or local elections to see that the dump is not located in Dunshaughlin," said Mr Frank Fitzmaurice, spokesman for the campaign.
He said there are about 5,000 people living within a IV mile radius of the town. "The site proposed is within half a mile of the edge of Dunshaughlin, which is one of the fastest growing towns in Co Meath."
The group has met the Tanaiste, Mr Spring and hopes to meet Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, who is a local TD.
One of the protesters, Ms Clare Corrigan, Ardlea, Dunshaughlin, said "We believe the dump will be in Dunshaughlin. We have good roads and are near the city."
Ms Betty O'Shea said. "The dump would be only 500 yards from a school. The value of our houses would drop and we'll never get what we paid for them." Another woman said the council should choose a rural location. "There is plenty of bogland in Meath".
County councillors were told by the campaigners that if the landfill is located in Dunshaughlin, "it will blight this model community and one of Meath's highest potential job centres.