Controversial plans to develop a Greg Norman-designed £12.5 million golf course at Doonbeg, Co Clare, do not threaten a protected species of snail recently discovered at the site, according to Duchas, the Heritage Service.
It was commenting yesterday after the discovery of a 2 mm snail, the Vertigo Angustior, within the sand-dune system on the west Clare coast.
Believed to have its origins in the Ice Age, the rare species is one of three land snails listed under Annexe II of the EU Habitats Directive 96 of the 200 Special Areas of Conservation drawn up by Duchas. The Vertigo Angustior is present at only one other site, at Rye Water Valley in Co Kildare.
Opponents of the golf course, the environment network Friends of the Irish Environment, said the discovery of the snail "demonstrates the flawed designation process for nature conservation in Ireland. Added to the many other reasons advanced by the leading Irish environmental organisations, it must now be unthinkable to permit this development to proceed".
Along with An Taisce and the Heritage Council, FIE has appealed Clare County Council's decision to grant planning permission to Irish National Golf Club Ltd to An Bord Pleanala for the project at the site, which is located adjacent to a Special Area of Conservation.
However, Mr Peadar Caffrey, of Duchas, speaking on Clare FM radio yesterday, dismissed claims that the proposed development would threaten the protected species. He said: "There are those who believe that the development threatens the snail. We ourselves believe that it is not threatened by the development."
Saying that McHugh Consultants, the firm which carried out the "very effective" environmental impact study of the site, and the developers had been "very responsible", Mr Caffrey said both parties had sought the advice of Duchas on how to protect the species. "They are committed when actually building the golf course to liase with us to ensure the species is conserved."
Mr Bernard McHugh, of McHugh Consultants, said evidence from other projects suggested that protected species could co-exist with developments, adding that the development at Doonbeg would not have any impact on the species since the snails were located away from the development.
A spokesperson for the Doonbeg Community Development Co Ltd, which is fully supportive of the project, said the notification of the presence of the snail by McHugh Consultants to the authorities illustrated the openness and transparency of Irish National Golf Club Ltd and McHugh Consultants. The discovery of the snail comes ahead of the publication by Duchas of a scientific statement regarding the conservation status of Doonbeg which, it says, "will set the record straight" in regard to the conservation status of the site.
