Residents in south east Dublin insisted today they will continue their campaign to prevent the proposed Poolbeg incinerator being built, after An Bord Pleanala granted permission for the project.
The incinerator, which will be based at Ringsend, will have the capacity to burn 600,000 tonnes of waste annually. It was today approved subject to 13 conditions.
The Combined Residents Against Incineration (CRAI) group, which includes residents of Ringsend, Irishtown, and Sandymount, said it would continue the campaign to stop the incinerator.
It called upon Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who is also a TD for the area, to refuse Dublin City Council permission to sign the contract for the project.
"He can do this through a Ministerial order. John Gormley has repeatedly stated he would not be part of a government that allowed the Poolbeg incinerator to go ahead. He should now stick to his promise and help stop the incinerator," a statement from CRAI said.
The group claimed the process to grant permission to the Poolbeg incinerator had broken EU directives on consultation and waste disposal.
Frances Corr of CRAI said: "CRAI, with the help of the communities in the area, collected over 3,000 objections to the incinerator. The decision to locate the incinerator on the Poolbeg was anti-democratic and Dublin City Council management took the democratic right to vote on the location of the incinerator away from Dublin City councillors."
Lucinda Creighton, Fine Gael TD in the Dublin South East constituency in which the incinerator is due to be located said the decision was a "disaster for the people of Dublin".
She said its size will be a "blight" on the landscape creating traffic and health hazards.
"I am angered and hurt for the local communities that the planned incinerator has been approved. This is a defeat for local democracy, and a defeat for common sense," Ms Creighton said.
Labour Party TD for Dublin South East Ruairi Quinn said it would not be possible to fully evaluate the implications of the Bord Pleanala ruling until the inspectors' report was made available.
"However Minister for the Environment John Gormley has betrayed the trust of the electorate and the hopes of Green voters throughout the country, that his arrival in the custom house would have created a change in policy at national level," Mr Quinn said.
He said the waste management plan of the four Dublin local authorities was out of date and that Mr Gormley had the power to vary it.
Sinn Féin's Dublin spokesman on the environment, Councillor Daithí Doolan said the decision was a "huge blow" to the community.
"Those of us involved in the long campaign against this incinerator had hoped a Green Minister in government would have brought a change of policy but unfortunately this is not to be. Those of us still committed to winning the campaign must now redouble our efforts and ensure that the Environmental Protection Agency does not grant a license to the plant."
"This city faces a waste management crisis but to continue to bury and burn our waste is a deeply flawed and totally unacceptable policy. We must rule out the option of incineration and invest in a programme to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste."
Rory Hearne, anti-incinerator campaigner and representative of the People Before Profit Alliance said: "Whatever outcome of An Bord Pleanala's ruling on the poolbeg incinerator the communities of Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount will stop the incinerator."
Dublin City Council welcomed the decision and said the plant would generate enough energy from the waste to provide electricity for 50,000 homes and district heating for a further 60,000 homes.