A DETERMINED campaign against the licensing of casino gambling is to be undertaken by objectors to the Sonas Centre development planned for the Phoenix Park Racecourse in Dublin.
The £400 million scheme, one of the largest ever proposed in Ireland, was sanctioned yesterday by An Bord Pleanala, even though it generated more objections almost 20,000 than any other development in Irish planning history.
The West Dublin Action Group, a coalition of local residents' associations which has already spent an estimated £70,000 fighting the scheme, said it was "shocked and stunned" by the decision, which would allow the developers to "foist this unwanted monstrosity" on the area.
The group met last night to consider the ruling, but a spokesman said it was unlikely it would decide to incur the additional expense of seeking a judicial review. Instead, it would concentrate its efforts on opposing "any attempt seen in Irish tourism and will give the country world class conference, leisure and sporting facilities", he said.
It would also employ 3,000 construction workers and create 2,000 permanent jobs.
Mr Robert White, another Sonas Centre director, said the proposed casino was the "financial engine" driving the development. "We will do nothing without a casino licence and we've made that very dear," he declared, adding that this was a matter for negotiation with the Government.
He stressed that the entire scheme would be "absolutely top class", with ITT Sheraton as the operator of the hotel and casino, and that its value to Dublin and to Ireland as a whole would be "quite incredible".
But Ms Joan Burton, the Minister of State at the Departments of Justice and Foreign Affairs, said a full examination of the social and public order consequences of "slot machine casinos" was needed. She and a number of her colleagues were on record as opposing their introduction.
Expressing her "extreme disappointment" with the appeal board's ruling, she pointed out that it dealt only with the planning aspects of the scheme. "The decision does not mean that a very large casino and slot machine facility can be built and operated immediately", she added.
Mr Austin Currie, the Minister of State for child care and Fine Gael TD for Dublin West, was also "surprised and shocked" by the board's ruling and reiterated his opposition to licensing casino gambling.
Ms Patricia McKenna MEP (Green Party) said the board's condition limiting the use of the proposed stadium to no more than 12 events annually with a capacity of more than 20,000 would make little difference. She also warned against developing a "pseudo Las Vegas culture in the Phoenix Park".
A spokesman for ITT Sheraton denied that it would be lobbying the Government for a casino licence. He said the casino "provides an opportunity to fund a national conference centre at no cost to the State".
