A consumer health group has made a donation to an environmental group campaigning against a proposed incinerator for Cork Harbour.
Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE) is campaigning against Indaver Ireland's plan to build a €100 million toxic incinerator at Ringaskiddy on the shores of Cork Harbour.
Yesterday CHASE was presented with a cheque for €1,500 by Consumers for Health Choice (CHC) - a group set up in 1999 in response to the Government's decision to make certain herbal remedies, including St John's Wort, available only on prescription.
CHC national chairwoman Ms Jo Kelleher presented the cheque to the Monkstown, Passage West and Glenbrook branch of CHASE and said they were pleased to be able to give the money to such a worthwhile cause.
"Consumers for Health Choice has been wound up in the past few weeks because we've achieved what we set out to with regard to alternative health treatment so we decided to donate what money was left over to a like-minded cause.
"We decided to give the money to CHASE because we believe that they, like us, are working to protect people's health by opposing the plan for this incinerator," said Ms Kelleher, adding that CHC had obtained its funding solely from public donations.
CHASE chairwoman Ms Mary O'Leary welcomed the donation and said it was reflective of the growing opposition in the Cork Harbour area and beyond to Indaver Ireland's proposal for a toxic incinerator at Ringaskiddy.
It's understood that the Environmental Protection Agency will decide later this month on whether to grant a licence to Indaver Ireland for its proposed incinerator at Ringaskiddy.
Indaver Ireland has already received planning permission from An Bord Pleanála for the Ringaskiddy incinerator but 12 local residents are seeking a High Court review of that decision and that case is expected to go ahead in October.
CHASE will take part in a protest in Dublin on Saturday next as part of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives which involves groups from 39 countries opposed to "unsustainable and dangerous waste disposal systems".
