Helicopter landings are continuing beside a bird sanctuary in south Dublin despite the owner of the adjoining site promising to remove the landing pad almost three months ago.
The owner of the helicopter and the land in Booterstown, Co Dublin, property developer Bernard McNamara, maintains that landing the aircraft beside the An Taisce-leased sanctuary does not breach any law or regulation.
However, local residents and conservation groups are concerned that the noise generated by the helicopter poses a "significant threat" to nearby birdlife.
In early February The Irish Times reported that Mr McNamara was planning to remove the helicopter pad from the site adjoining Booterstown Marsh, but the flights have continued.
Mr McNamara has since commissioned Robertson and Associates, environmental consultants, to compare the effect on wildlife of the helicopter noise with that generated by the nearby Dart trains.
According to a spokesman for Mr McNamara, initial findings showed that the difference was not significant.
Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe is convinced that the helicopters are having a detrimental effect.
"I am appalled that this is happening despite earlier assurances from Mr McNamara . . . Apart from the impact on the birdlife, I am also concerned at the danger such flights represent to traffic on the Rock Road and rail-users on the Dart line," Mr Cuffe said.
Veronica Heywood, chairwoman of the Booterstown Nature Reserve management advisory committee, said: "It is our duty to preserve this sanctuary for the whole of Europe. It's for wildlife, not helicopters . . . It is not just a question of the noise, it is about the fumes created and also the danger of birds flying into the helicopter blades," she said.
Mr Cuffe has written to local councils and the Irish Aviation Authority in an effort to ban low-flying helicopters in the area.
The Aviation Authority said yesterday that any effect on wildlife in the area was not its concern.
"Once the aircraft is being flown in accordance with the rules of the air and has the permission of the landowner to land there, there is nothing we can do to stop it," a spokeswoman said.
Dublin City Council said the matter was not a planning issue and that no permission was needed for a heli-pad.