Gormley steps in to protect Special Area of Conservation threatened by Corrib scheme

national | environment | other press Saturday February 07, 2009 10:51 by kermit

Bridge over river Corrib and by-pass threaten limestone pavement in Galway

It seems that the Galway by-pass may not now go ahead as planned after a dramatic eleventh-hour realisation by the Minister of the Environment that he is a member of the Green Party.

"I had no idea I had these sort of powers, to stop developments that threaten the country's environmental heritage and prevent loss of habitat, until one of my civil servants (who I was making tea for at the time) pointed out that the Galway by-Pass is not sponsored by Shell, and although the Corrib bridge has a confusing name, it actually has nothing to do with the Corrib natural gas (eight billion euro giveaway) scheme in Mayo!" the Minister is not reported to have said.

I had no idea...

Gormley steps in to protect Special Area of Conservation

THE Minister for the Environment has ordered an eleventh hour halt to the approved 15km stretch of the Galway City Outer Bypass – including a new bridge over the Corrib – to allow him assess the road’s impact on a Special Area of Conservation.

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http://www.galwaynews.ie/6449-gormley-calls-halt-bypass...-work