THE Minister for the Marine is to review the implications of yesterday's Supreme Court judgment.
Most of the radio based navigation aids around the Irish coastline have also been deemed illegal by the majority judgment, which found that the mast was not the "lighthouse, buoy or beacon" covered by the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act. Amending legislation would be drafted and enacted "if deemed necessary" on foot of legal advice, the Minister, Mr Barrett, said.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights have expressed "disappointment" at the rejection of their appeal, while the judgment has been welcomed by the Cross Loran C Group and the West Clare Development Co Operative. A separate High Court ruling on Bord Pleanala's approval of the mast is still pending.
An Irish Lights spokesman said that it would continue to provide the navigational service, but did not want to do so indefinitely in an ultra vires situation.
Mr John McInerney, of the Cross Loran C Group, said the three two Supreme Court decision against the mast was welcomed by the "entire community of west Clare". He called for the "immediate disbandment" of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, which he described as a "self elected self perpetuating, non democratic colonial group", and transfer of any remaining functions and powers to the "Irish nation, under the direct control of the Department of the Marine".
Mr Aidan Casey, manager of the West Clare Development Co Op which represents about 200 fishermen, said his members were extremely pleased. "Fishermen see no reason to have Loran C as a navigation system and we hope that the Minister for the Marine will take cognisance of this and not introduce retrospective legislation," Mr Casey said.
The ruling has serious implications for Ireland's commitment to Loran C as part of a European agreement. It may also outlaw Irish Lights' use of radio based navigational aids, some of which have been in use around the Irish coastline since 1931.
The Supreme Court ruling comes two years after the initiation of a local campaign against construction of the 720 foot mast. The controversy has cost the Government more than £350,000 to date - not including legal expenses - while storage of the mast has cost £23,000.
Loran C is an acronym for Long Range Navigation and is very similar to the Decca navigation system. The Loran C network was intended to complement - but also make Europe independent of the highly accurate satellite Global Positioning System (GPS), which was designed by the US military and is now widely available for civilian use.
Clare fishermen had argued that the existing combination of Decca and GPS was sufficient, because such devices are only meant to be aids to navigation.
Under an international agreement, involving Ireland, France and the Netherlands, Irish Lights intended to introduce the land based system with a 200 mile range over Ireland, Britain and part of the Atlantic. France and the Netherlands agreed to contribute 50 per cent and 5 per cent towards the capital cost, and the Minister told the Dail earlier this month that both countries had paid £1.5 million already.
Self financing, and funded by shipping dues, Irish Lights has been under considerable pressure to cut the costs of its navigation service and has already automated most of the lights around the 2,700 mile Irish coastline. The Loran C system is used for aircraft navigation in the US and the proposed location near Shannon could have served a similar purpose here.
