*A special meeting of Clare County Council convened to discuss the matter.
CLARE COUNCILLORS have called on An Bord Pleanála to defer any approval of the Sceirde Rocks Windfarm project until meaningful consultation with local communities has taken place.
Plans were lodged in January for a landmark 450MW wind farm with 30 turbines over 1,000 feet high in the Atlantic Ocean off coasts of Clare and Galway. The Sceirde Rocks Offshore Wind Farm by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta is to be located five kilometres to eleven and a half kilometres off the west coast.
This project will be the first offshore wind farm off Ireland’s west coast to go through to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission and is to power 350,000 Irish homes, save an estimated 550,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, and contribute up to €70m in local community initiatives. Clare councillors have said significant shortcomings in the planning and consultation process must be addressed before approval is granted.
At a special meeting of Clare County Council on Wednesday, elected members proposed a draft Chief Executive’s report to An Bord Pleanála regarding the Sceirde Rocks project. Elected members attended a briefing on Tuesday where they quizzed developers on the plans.
Concerns have been raised over the lack of adequate public consultation and strategic planning regarding the plans. Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) stated, “While consultation events have predominantly taken place in Galway, there has been little to no meaningful engagement with the residents and businesses impacted along the cable route in County Clare. This failure has denied these communities the opportunity to make clear, informed submissions on the planning application. The applicant must ensure that all impacted communities are properly consulted before this project proceeds”.
He called for proper engagement with Clare communities, a transparent and accessible consultation process that ensures all affected residents and businesses have a voice. Road use, environmental impact, and disruption to daily life of locals must also be considered.
Lynch flagged the urgent need for a comprehensive Traffic Management Plan (TMP) to be developed and made available for public consultation. “The construction phase of this project will have a significant impact on local road infrastructure. Residents and businesses need clarity on road closures, alternative routes, and mitigation measures. The Council and the public must have input on these plans before approval is granted”.
This TMP should also include a detailed schedule of roadworks, including affected sections and duration, measures to ensure local access and safe alternative routes, public consultation on traffic disruptions before the final plan is approved, full reinstatement of roads post-construction to a high standard.
Another major concern is the imbalance in community funding allocations. “The
current plan favours Galway due to visual impact considerations, yet Clare communities will bear the brunt of the construction disruption. This is unfair, and a specific percentage of community funding must be allocated to County Clare to ensure a fair and equitable distribution,” he stated.
“Without a structured approach, we risk having multiple developers installing separate ducting, leading to unnecessary environmental damage and repeated disruption to communities. A single, centralized ‘plug and play’ connection at Moneypoint must be developed to streamline offshore energy integration,” the Kilrush representative said. Energy companies are attempting to “rail-road” projects over the line, “it is an unregulated area, the Government have been pushing us down this road but are not prepared for it, we’ve been blindsided by it. We have to put our best foot forward and not give a walkover on this”.
Clare and West Clare in particular “needs to get the maximum benefit if the project goes ahead,” Cllr Michael Shannon (FF) stressed. Ducting of roads and how commercial rates are applied need to be examined, he said. “If the project gets the go ahead, we want our local contractors to have a good shot at getting employed”.
Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) referenced RTÉ’s Late Debate which featured Galway TDs, Catherine Connolly (IND) and Seán Kyne (FG) discussing the matter. “It was half in Irish and half English so I only picked up the English part,” he admitted. “Have we seen any correspondence from Galway, is it outside our remit to see what they have, those two TDs weren’t happy with the communication from the developer”.
“Communication is key and also the infrastructure being brought back to the standard, we want to make sure we maximise as much revenue as we can for our county,” Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) commented. Improving infrastructure and securing local employment are essential if the project is to get the green light, Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) said.
Answers from the developers at the briefing were “very vague,” Cllr Pat Burke (FG) maintained. He said 23km of roads in West Clare will be dug up but none in Galway so a greater share of the community impact funding should go to Clare.
“Wishy washy” is how Cllr Mary Howard (FG) labelled answers from the developers. “The community development fund is for €70m, to quote a hotelier from West Clare, we hold all the cards in our hands, it is very important we have a very strong case put forward”. She said a straight answer was not provided on road closures.
Acting Director of Economic Development, Seán Lenihan said the Chief Executive’s report mentions the need for community gain and to pay cognisant of the impact to the road network. He said an appointment will be made to administer the €70m community fund. “I don’t think we’re on the backfoot here,” the Miltown Malbay native stated.
