The High Court action in question was initiated in 1999 by the owners of the Waddington estate, whose lands adjoin the Boyne Estuary in Drogheda. The estate claimed ownership of foreshore abutting its lands which had been developed by the Drogheda Port Company at Tom Roe's Point in the Boyne Estuary under leases granted under the Foreshore Acts, as well as infringement of riparian rights.
Following advice from the Attorney General and after full consideration of the implications for the State's interest in the foreshore and Drogheda Port Company, my Department pursued and secured settlement of the action. The settlement, while recognising the property rights of the Waddington estate, safeguarded the current facility at Tom Roe's Point and allowed the Drogheda Port Company to proceed with its plans to develop an area west of the facility, subject to the appropriate consent under the Foreshore Acts, which has since been given by me. Moreover, the settlement removes any doubts that the foreshore in question is the property of the State.
The area restricted by the settlement is a small part of the Boyne Estuary downstream of the Tom Roe's Point development. As I explained in my reply to Deputy Bell's Parliamentary Question No. 104 on 19 February 2002, the Boyne Estuary is a special protection area under EU legislation and any future development there must satisfy very stringent restrictions. Dúchas, the heritage service, which is the statutory authority with responsibility in this area, has informed my Department that it would have serious reservations about any further land reclamation downstream of the Tom Roe's Point development. The port company is aware that, apart from the settlement in the Waddington case, any further developments in the Boyne Estuary will be affected by these considerations.