The Loran C radio navigation mast will not be constructed on the Loop Head peninsula in Co Clare without public consultation, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, said.
Commenting on yesterday's Supreme Court judgment, a spokesman for the Minister said there would still be public consultation as part of a review of the Loran C navigation system.
A separate one-day forum will also be held, involving international and national marine interests and the Commissioners of Irish Lights. Special legislation to erect the mast would then have to be brought to the Oireachtas, the Minister said.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights, acting as agents for the Government in erecting the proposed radio navigation mast, welcomed the judgment.
"We are happy that a long and tortuous process is over, and the rest is now up to the Minister," said Capt Kieran O'Higgins, spokesman for CIL.
The Cross Loran C Action Group, which opposes the mast siting in Co Clare, said it was "regrouping" and considering its options. Mr John McInerney, a spokesman, said united local opposition to the project remained.
"This is still antiquated technology. Loran-C is to navigation what the Pony Express is to email," he said. "We are considering all our options, both political and legal, and we are looking to Brussels to assess our treatment in relation to An Bord Pleanala."
The Supreme Court judgment on planning aspects is the last legal stage in a saga dating back to 1992, when the Dail debated and approved Ireland's participation in an international agreement to provide the north-west European Loran C navigation system.
This was an alternative to the existing Global Positioning System, a highly accurate satellite system developed by the US military. Decca, the terrestrial electronic system used in many vessels at that stage, was to be phased out by the end of this century.
As part of the agreement, Ireland was to host the siting of a 720-foot mast, and France and the Netherlands were to contribute 50 per cent and 5 per cent respectively of the capital costs.
But in February 1994 Clare County Council refused planning permission for the station on health and environmental grounds. This decision was appealed to the board, which overturned the council's decision in November 1994.
Local objectors who had formed the Cross Loran C Action group then challenged An Bord Pleanala's powers as part of a two-pronged legal strategy. In a separate legal case, the powers of CIL to erect such a mast under the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act were also challenged.
In July 1996 the Supreme Court ruled by a three-to-two majority that the CIL did not have adequate powers for the Loran C mast and for all radio-based navigation aids around the Irish coastline.
So serious were the implications of this judgment for the navigational system, then being automated, that the Minister for the Marine was forced to introduce updated legislation. The minister, Mr Sean Barrett, also committed himself to a public forum to hear submissions on the mast.
This new Bill, described as "draconian" and a "panic measure" by Fianna Fail when in opposition, fell when the Government changed.
The legislation was reintroduced by the current Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, late last year. But he included an amendment expressly excluding Loran C from the CIL powers.
Dr Woods said the erection of the mast could not proceed unless he made a new order, approved and passed by both houses of the Oireachtas.
Speaking in the Seanad, Dr Woods said he intended to conduct a "fundamental review" of all aspects of the Loran C issue.
