Some forecast it will be another "Mullaghmore"; some say it already is. Even as the Minister for Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and Islands considers the next stage in the Burren visitors' centre controversy, her junior partner has been accused of stirring up a storm further north over Roundstone Bog.
A "stitch-up" is how one environmentalist describes the situation, while the Minister of State concerned, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, vehemently denies such claims. But six non-governmental organisations have criticised Mr O Cuiv and Ms de Valera for acting as "development agency and environmental protector", by seeking public views on an airstrip project without any written plans to back it up.
As reported previously in this column, the Minister sought submissions regarding a proposed land swap which would facilitate construction of an airstrip outside Clifden in Connemara to service islanders. The backers of the scheme are the same group of Clifden business interests associated with an original plan, mooted eight years ago.
This plan aroused much controversy then, due to the perceived threat to the fragile landscape. Naturalists describe the 25 square miles of lowland blanket bog as "a mosaic of heathery knolls", encompassing about 100 little lakes between Roundstone, Ballyconneely, Clif den and Ballynahinch. Its ecological importance and world heritage status has been acknowledged for decades.
Galway County Council turned down the 1990 application when the Office of Public Works designated the location as an Area of Scientific Interest. Although the Supreme and High Courts later found the OPW had acted unconstitutionally, the developers abandoned the venture. Almost.
The land involved in this proposed swap comprises that original site, at Ardagh in the northwest corner of Roundstone Bog, and "degraded" bogland to the south owned by the State at Derrygimlagh, including the remains of the Marconi telegraph station.
Under the deal, Duchas, the Heritage Service, would receive the Ardagh territory in exchange for part of the Marconi site. Whereas Ardagh is within a proposed Special Area of Conservation, Derrygimlagh is not - though it is still part of the Roundstone Bog complex.
Having invited submissions, with a March 2nd deadline, Duchas hosted consultations with groups and individuals in Connemara National Park, Letterfrack, late last month. The developers, including Mr Paul Hughes of the Abbeyglen Hotel in Clifden, were not invited to any meeting, nor did they expect to be.
Mr Hughes has confirmed that no plans have as yet been lodged with either Duchas or with Galway County Council, as much depends on the ministerial decision, still awaited, on the land swap proposal.
There is nothing in writing, which suggests the Minister has already made up his mind, says Mr Leo Hallissey, environmentalist and principal of Letterfrack National School.
His concern is echoed by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, which finds it "appalling" that Ms de Valera and Mr O Cuiv could even entertain a land-swap without adequate information on which to base a decision.
The IPCC and the Save Roundstone Bog Campaign, led by cartographer and author, Mr Tim Robinson, say Derrygimlagh is a valuable "buffer zone" between the bogland and development along the ClifdenBally conneely road.
Mr Robinson recently walked the area, which is regenerating, with a botanist, Dr Micheline Sheehy-Skeffington of NUI Galway. They found 55 plants typical of the Roundstone Bog flora.
"As of yet, no feasibility study has been carried out, no development plans have been forwarded or alternative sites explored, no environmental impact study has been submitted, and no study indicating the economic viability of the project has been volunteered," the IPCC says.
"In essence, the decision to give the go-ahead or not is a purely political one," its chairman, Dr Peter Foss, says.
Opposition to the proposed development and land swap has resulted in a joint NGO initiative, involving the IPCC, An Taisce, the Irish Wildbird Conservancy, Irish Wildlife Trust, Save Roundstone Bog Group and the Heritage Council.
Bord Failte, Earthwatch, VOICE, Plantlife, the Conservation Council in London, and wildlife experts including Prof Victor Westhoff, Prof David Bellamy and Eamon de Buitlear have also expressed objections. They says the ministers head the same government department which has applied for world heritage status for Roundstone Bog.
Mr O Cuiv defends the consultation procedure in the absence of written proposals. He emphasises that this is not, as yet, a planning application. "I am dealing with a proposed land swap. It would be pre-emptive to refer to a proposal to built an airstrip," Mr O Cuiv says. "I am as interested in protecting the ecology of Connemara as these groups. I can assure them that officials of Duchas are carrying out a very detailed analysis of the proposal, which includes a series of meetings with those who have lodged objections."
Mr Hallissey believes there is an attempt to localise an essentially national and international issue, and finds it "very strange" that Duchas staff have not been asked to walk the site.
Mr Robinson is not so hung up on the plan issue. "Yes, it is absurd that we have nothing to look at. But no plans are going to make any difference to my objection," he says.
