The subject for the Adjournment today is a proposed interpretative centre in the Burren. I would like to state that this is spelled "interpretative" and perhaps this could be made clear to the people who manufacture signs using the obnoxious Americanism "interpretive" which is not English but Anglo-American. It would be good if we indicated our separation from the American continent in this particular matter of an abuse of language. However, that is a minor point.
I am concerned here about the Burren. I know the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Vincent Brady, are sensitive to this area. I have read Deputy Brady's speech in which he talks about the beauties of the Burren, an internationally celebrated area. It is one of the unique resources this country provides but a very delicate one and is a highly unusual landscape. It contains very unusual and specialised fauna, particularly a range of alpine plants; I gather there are also pine martens and other rare animals in the area. The ecological balance is extremely delicate and it is now proposed to build an interpretative centre in Mullaghmore, one of the most remote inaccessible wilderness areas of this already strange and remote landscape.
I am concerned about the impact of this proposal upon the Burren generally. I would like to address one of the analogies drawn by the Minister in his speech, between the Burren and Glenveagh. I know Glenveagh, and have been in Glenveagh Castle giving a performance of the works of James Joyce. It is a very beautiful place and a credit to the country but it is a castle so there is already a massive intrusion into the natural landscape. Glenveagh has a well-constructed interpretative centre designed for concealment and to fit in with the landscape but as I pointed out to the Minister members of the public are prohibited from entering the wilderness area. For those reasons it is not appropriate to compare what is proposed for Mullaghmore with the result of a century's development at Glenveagh.
I ask the Minister if any environmental impact assessment has been contemplated for this proposal; in my original formulation I suggested such a study was required under European Community regulations. Since then I have thought more about it and I realise that just as local councils can derogate from their own development plans and from planning considerations without much difficulty, so Governments can derogate from the requirement to carry out an environmental impact assessment study if they so wish. I ask the Minister if we are so derogating and are not proposing to do an environmental impact study. Considering the fact that we have had in this House a very lengthy debate on the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency during which we spent some considerable time dealing with the question of environmental impact assessment studies and so on, it would be inappropriate and a bad lead if we decide in this highly sensitive and unique area not to conduct an environmental impact assessment.
Has the Minister consulted with any of the appropriate State agencies, for example, the natural history section of the National Museum, the botanical departments of the various universities or indeed our own National Botanic Gardens? I am not aware that any of these agencies have been consulted by the Minister and they would contain an appropriate level of expertise. I would like some reassurance that any of these groups or indeed Eolas, the State scientific body, have been consulted about the potential impact of establishing such a facility in Mullaghmore.
On a slightly more popular note, I would like to indicate to the Minister that there is considerable unease among local people about the establishment of this facility. There may well be division where people in the immediate area who see some personal or business advantage may be gulled or misled into believing there will be a short term economic advantage to them from the throughout of a considerable number of tourists but the general feeling in the area is against it. I would like to quote from an article in The Irish Times of 23 April 1991 where the local parish priest, the Rev. John O'Donoghue, curate at Carron, said:
It is like a spiritual landscape and nobody should allow its wilderness character to be damaged. It is in the middle of nowhere and that is one of its attractions. It really would be best of leave it alone. People forget that the Burren comprises a whole series of different areas each with its own unique identity. If there is going to be development it should be done in an integrated manner enhancing the particular qualities of each area and bringing them together in a holistic way.
There is a general concern that this centre is being established because European Community money is available and because of a rush on the part of Departments to use up what is seen as available money in Europe. I would like to quote from Ms Martina O'Dea of the Burren Action Group, also quoted in this article, who maintains that she is not against the development of interpretative centres nor does she wish areas of natural beauty to be excluded from enjoyment by a majority of people if they so wish but that the wrong site has been chosen. It is a spectacularly ill-chosen location. This is what she said:
It might not be too bad if it was on the periphery but it is unthinkable that this should be done to a place like Mullaghmore. The Burren is a very small area and very sensitive. It would not take long to destroy it. The road into Mullaghmore is narrow and they are planning to widen it. Then coaches will bring thousands and thousands of people who would never dream of going to Mullaghmore unless they were brought in on a tour bus. When that happens the people who really want to go to a place like this will stay away.
I appeal to the Minister along those lines. Here is an ordinary person, resident in the area, the head of an action group, committed to protecting this resort, saying, "If this centre is developed we are going to have a mass of people coming in." The Minister, Deputy Brady, indicated in his speech that he anticipates 50,000 to 60,000 visitors to this centre, annually. Can you imagine the impact of the sudden influx of 50,000 to 60,000 people into a wilderness area? That would remove its wilderness character fairly comprehensively. The site is unsuitable because the area is one of our most spectacular and important resources and the Burren is also a very sensitive area.
Anybody who knows anything about the sensitive balance of plant life in this area will realise that once disturbed it is extremely difficult to reverse any negative changes that occur in the ecology of an area like that. There is no doubt in my mind that a sudden influx of 50,000 to 60,000 tourists each summer would destroy the peace and tranquility there and the natural habitat of many plants there. I accept that no plant or animal species is immediately and directly threatened, although it also has to be said that one cannot say definitively that none of them would ever be placed under a real threat because a number of the rarer plant species do occur around the Lough Gaelain-Mullaghmore area.
In order to develop tourist facilities an interpretative centre is not sufficient; an infrastructure of reasonable roads must also be provided. The development of this road system will also seriously disturb the immediate area and particularly the plant life. The existing roads are not suitable for coaches and consist in many places of a one-vehicle track. The visitors' centre will consume further land resources by the requirement for visitors' car parking. Paths will be created throughout the area in order to display it to the public and will bring about substantial degrading of the wilderness aspect of the Burren.
Another practical situation could be the most immediately damaging. I almost blush to raise it in this august Chamber. Human beings as well as pine martens are animals and 50,000 to 60,000 visitors will require lavatory facilities so there is going to be a problem with sewage, a most effective and potent pollutant. I do not see any provisions made to deal with the pollution effect of sewage in this area, and that is only for polite people. When coachloads of people come into an area, particularly if they are on a jaunt and have had a few scoops of beer, they are not going to go into the interpretative centre to conform to the necessities of nature. I am afraid some of the unfortunate little plants might receive unexpected doses of human waste. My information is that any inflow of sewerage into the Mullaghmore area, given its sensitive ecological balance, could have a potentially disastrous effect upon the ecology of the area.
It has also been put to me that there are already many interpretative centres in this area which one would imagine would be sufficient for even the most ardent botanical tourist. I am not convinced that there are 50,000 to 60,000 people in this country with a specialised interest in botanical inquiry. Therefore, I think we are talking about general tourists and we have to be careful about introducing a huge number of general tourists who may not have the required sensitivity for this area. We have all been made uncomfortable by educated people picking wild flowers while out for a ramble in the countryside and so on. There have been diminishing quantities or primroses and cowslips, although I am glad to say that this year has been a good year for cowslips, as the Minister no doubt has noticed. If in an area of very rare plants a considerable number of non-specialist tourists were introduced they would undoubtedly harvest some of these items.
I would like to outline some of the existing facilities: Kilfenora, the Burren Centre, Ailwee Cave, the Cliffs of Mother and further proposed centres at Polanionáin Cave at Fanore, Bell Harbour, Corcomroe and now at Mullaghmore. One has to ask if there is not an element of over-kill here? Are there not already sufficient interpretative centres, particularly when we are dealing with a very sensitive area? I would like to urge the Office of Public Works to look at the accommodation at one of the other centres, such as the Ailwee Caves-the prime sites are at Kilfenora — to upgrade the facilities there as a joint venture rather than building another facility even with what I have acknowledged is the very considerable skill and capacity of the Office of Public Works. I do not want anything I say in this debate to be interpreted as an attack on the Office of Public Works. I am indicating strong hesitation in this matter. I do not think there has been proper consultation. There has not been an environmental——
