1996/99
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"Eco-Warriors" gird themselves for Achill battle?
11 February 1998
By Tom Shiel
Ireland's Eco-Warriors are considering an invitation to mount a campaign on Achill Island against the "indiscriminate erection" of holiday homes there.
The so-called "warriors- hard line environmentalists whose main campaign at the moment is protecting a belt of native oak woodland from destruction by Wicklow County Council - have been on a fact-finding mission to the island already.
Concern is mounting in Achill over the granting of planning permission for numerous holiday houses which are described by environmentalists as a blight on a previously pristine environment.
A spokesman for the Eco-Warrior group which is fighting the expansion of the motorway in Glen Of The Downs, Co. Wicklow has confirmed they are keeping in touch with the Achill situation but no definite decision has yet to be made by the warriors as to whether they will have any involvement.
Contact was established with the Wicklow "eco" group, some of whom live in trees in an attempt to stop them being felled, by environmentalists in the west who are concerned about holiday home developments in places such as Connemara and Achill.
Meanwhile, the Green Party has expressed opposition to the Achill situation. "These houses are totally unsatisfactory, out of touch with the landscape", Green Party TD John Gormley said yesterday. (Tue)
Mr. Gormley added: "The whole holiday home situation in the west has to be looked at by the Government. Nothing substantial is being contributed to the economy of local communities".
Connaught Telegraph - News & Sport - February 1998
