Tag Archives: Derrybrien Windfarm

A PROPOSAL to resume the operation of Derrybrien Wind Farm under a new company such as the Western Commission has been criticised as akin to reselling a “dangerous, defective, written-off car to a new customer”. On the 19th anniversary of the landslide at Derrybrien and the seventh anniversary of the Supreme Court Judgement, Friends of Derrybrien Environment have claimed supporters of the Save Derrybrien Windfarm are engaging in a “futile and misleading campaign with no prospect of success” to protect an illegal and loss-making development. In a hard hitting statement issued to the Clare Champion, Martin Collins of Friends of Derrybrien Environment has alleged the “bogus calls” to reopen/recommission the wind farm is a continuation of the controversy that the commentators themselves complain about. “It is very disturbing that some legislators refuse to recognise the imperative of ensuring that planning and environmental regulations must apply to all equally,” he stated. “The government and the ESB have reluctantly accepted that this …

Deputy Michael McNamara is supporting a new bill by a former Attorney General that aims stop the decommissioning of 70 turbines on the controversial €200m Derrybrien Wind Farm site. Deputy McNamara said he didn’t think this wind farm should have been built in the first instance and doesn’t believe it would secure planning permission now, before stressing this is not the issue. “The issue is that it is there, the damage has been incurred and we have taken all of the downsides of it. “That includes the local community, the communities around Slieve Aughty and the environment. The issue now is if we can obtain a benefit from it during an energy crisis. “It is now proposed to build 19 wind turbines on a blanket bog at the top of Slieve Bernagh. It is ridiculous that having done the damage on Slieve Aughty, create further damage decommissioning it and then repeat the exercise on the top of Slieve Bernagh.” The …

THE operation of the soon to be decommissioned Derrybrien Wind Farm could be be transferred to a local authority to salvage something from what has become a costly debacle. Deputy Michael McNamara suggested a county council could make a new planning application with the explicit undertaking that any and all profits made from the controversial windfarm go back into protecting the environment of Slieve Aughty. That was one of the suggestions made by the Clare Deputy to salvage some positive dividend for the taxpayer amid claims the total overall loss to the state could be as high as €70 million. Following a lump sum fine of €5 million and a daily fine of €15,000 plus legal costs imposed by the European Court of Justice ruling in November 2019, the Derrybrien Wind Farm may exceed an estimated €18 million depending on when the EU decides Ireland has fully complied with its ruling. The penalties were levied after it found Ireland had …

A local environment lobby group has accused Galway county councillors of showing a “blatant disregard to their legal obligations” after their call to halt the decommissioning of the controversial Derrybrien Wind Farm. The ESB has confirmed it will begin work on dismantling the 70 wind turbines in accordance with planning laws and regulations after An Bord Pleanála refused its application for substitute consent for the development. The application for retrospective permission was made after the EU’s Court of Justice found Ireland was in breach of environmental standards in relation to the works carried out at the site. Galway County Councillors recently supported a motion calling on the government to direct the ESB to recommence operation of the Derrybrien wind farm and in doing so provide whatever legislative requirements that are necessary to ensure it may not be legally contested. EU fines amounting to a lump sum of €5 million and a daily fine of €15,000 plus legal costs were imposed …

THE early decommissioning of an ESB wind farm in South Galway could result in an overall taxpayer bill of up to €70 million, a local lobby group has claimed. Following a lump sum fine of €5 million and a daily fine of €15,000 plus legal costs imposed by the European Court of Justice ruling in November 2019, the Derrybrien Wind Farm has now incurred a bill of €17,845,7779 for the state. The penalties were levied after it found Ireland had failed to comply with a previous court ruling in relation to the wind farm where a landslide occurred during construction in 2003. David Murray from the South Galway Flood Relief Committee estimates when fines, early decommissioning accounting for a €10 million loss annually over the life time of the wind farm, consultants fees and resolution of turbary right are factored in, the final bill and loss of earnings could be in the region of €70 million. The ESB, through its …

THE ESB has come under fire from land owners in South Galway following the erection of a sign near the entrance of Derrybrien Windfarm warning about the “risk of peat instability from peat harvesting”. There are about 114 plots of land within the windfarm site boundary that many residents of Derrybrien and Killnadeema have been using through their lifetime for individual use as fuel. The South Galway Flood Relief Committee has claimed the ESB has turned the tables on local communities, meaning that turf-cutting contractors will be the ones liable for peat destabilisation and not the company, by erecting this sign, which has effectively halted peat operations in the region. The ESB has stated it didn’t issue any instruction to turbary rights holders or contractors stopping them from accessing or harvesting at Derrybrien. It also outlined the community liaison for Gort Windfarms Ltd.remains available to discuss the findings on an environmental level with the local community. In October 2003, the …