CLARE COUNTY Council last night became the first local authority to agree to put in place a ban on fracking in its county development plan.
At a highly charged January meeting of the council, the 32 members voiced their complete opposition to fracking taking place in the county.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a controversial technique to extract natural gas from shale.
Before a packed public gallery at the council chamber last night, the members voted unanimously to amend their county development plan to put a halt to all intrusive fracking or shale gas extraction-related activity.
After Clare’s mayor, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF), announced the unanimous decision, fracking opponents applauded from the public gallery.
The ban comes against the background of a Canadian-owned, UK-based firm, Enegi Oil, securing a licence from the Department of Energy to carry out exploratory work on 495 sq miles to establish its potential for a commercially viable deposit of shale natural gas.
The proposed amendment to the development plan is not expected to affect Enegi’s activities in investigating the feasibility of examining the stretch of land from Loop Head north to the Cliffs of Moher and east to mid-Clare.
