The Sean Quinn Group sought a High Court injunction preventing An Bord Pleanala making a decision on the Kinnegad appeal, arguing that Lagan's planning application was fundamentally flawed.
However, the application was refused by Mr Justice Quirke, who said the applicants appeared to be pursuing a financial and competitive interest rather than a planning one. It is still pursuing the matter by way of judicial review.
The Quinn group objected to Lagan Cement's planning application, both to Meath County Council, which has jurisdiction over most of the site near Kinnegad, and to Westmeath County Council, because the main road access to the site lies in Co Westmeath.
An Bord Pleanala granted planning permission to the Quinn group in June 1998 for a huge cement plant near Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, just across the Border from its main quarries and centre of operation in Co Fermanagh. That plant is currently being completed.
At the time when it was first mooted, there was speculation that the Quinn group regarded a location in the Republic as more advantageous than one in Northern Ireland because of the British government's onerous targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Every tonne of cement produced releases a tonne of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Britain is committed to achieving an overall reduction of 8 per cent in these emissions by 2010.
Ireland has pledged to cap increases in the emissions of gases blamed for causing climate change at 15 per cent above its 1990 levels over the same period. But the ESRI has warned that without tougher action this target will be almost impossible to meet.
Because of the booming economy and the massive increase in construction in recent years, the demand for cement has reached unprecedented levels. However, a proliferation of cement plants would add several percentage points to CO 2 emissions. In May 1999 An Bord Pleanala refused planning permission to Frank Harrington Ltd for another controversial cement plant and quarrying operation at Kilkelly, Co Mayo, because of what it judged was an inadequate environmental impact statement.
Having secured planning permission for the Kinnegad plant, Lagan Cement must obtain an integrated pollution licence from the Environmental Protection Agency covering air, water and noise emissions before it can go ahead with the project.