(Thanks to Joe Saunders and Ute Bohnsack on whose work this history is largely based)
February 1991 The controversy begins to simmer. The location for the Centre was published in the Irish Times (18.2.91). An Taisce criticised the approach of the OPW in acting under Section 84 of the 1963 Planning Act which facilitates developments needed for urgent Government use, thus by-passing the normal planning process. On 22-2-91 the Burren Action Group wrote to the OPW outlining their concerns over the siting of the interpretative centre and requested a meeting to allow a "frank exchange of our views".
22 April 1991 Plans for the Burren National Park with an interpretative centre at Mullaghmore announced by Vincent Brady T.D. in Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare.
July 1991 Joint submission presented to EU Directorate General XI (Environment) by Burren Action Group, An Taisce, World Wide Fund for Nature and Plantlife International: "The case for an independent and comprehensive environmental impact assessment of a visitor/interpretation centre at Mullaghmore for the Burren National Park in Co. Clare, Ireland". The main concerns of the report relate to:(i) potential impacts on the freshwater systems (on-site sewage treatment; water abstraction), (ii) trampling pressure and disturbance in a wider area around the proposed site, (iii) Creation of a development precedent and subsequent development pressures, (iv) impact of traffic generation in an as yet undeveloped area.
August 1991 Dr. Ludwig Kraemer, a senior official in the EC Commission's environmental directorate, acting on behalf of the Commissioner, Carlo Ripa di Meana, stated in a letter to Michael D. Higgins TD that "an environmental impact assessment would be warranted" for the centre and that assistance under the Structural funds should only be forthcoming "if it is satisfactorily demonstrated that there will be no significant adverse effects". He also stated that "the Commission has received an unusually high level of correspondence" on the subject.
September 1991 The OPW seeks clarification on the contents of the above letter. The Director General of the IUCN, Dr. Martin W. Holdgate, suggested that an EIS should be commissioned by the OPW.
October 7 1991 Mr. Vincent Brady TD, Minister of State, announces that the OPW will commission an EIS dealing with "the proposal to provide a visitor centre on the site selected by the OPW".
March 1992 The E.I.S concluded that the interpretative centre should go ahead. The study was condemned by BAG, An Taisce and international environmental groups as "woefully inadequate".
May 1992The Director General of the IUCN, Dr. Martin Holdgate, expressed serious reservations about the proposed development in response to the EIS and suggested that an alternative location be sought.
Summer 1992 After the Institute for Environmental Assessment graded the E.I.S. "E" on a scale of A to G, the EU considered whether to initiate infringement proceedings against Ireland, for possible breaches of the EU E.I.S. Directive. After a protracted series of representations the EU decided to sanction funding for the centre and allow the project to proceed on October 7 1992.
22 October 1992 Construction work began at Mullaghmore.
4 November 1992 BAG initiated legal proceedings against the OPW, arguing that they should not be exempt from having to seek planning permission for their developments.
26 November 1992 General election called. BAG placed advertisements in support of the Labour Party candidate for Co. Clare, Dr. Bhamjee, as the Labour Party had been supportive of our position in opposing the development at the Mullaghmore site. Following the election no government was formed until January 1993.
3 December 1992 BAG were refused a High Court injunction restraining the OPW from further development at Mullaghmore but were granted a Judicial Review, set for January 28 1993.
12 January 1993 New government voted in by the Oireachtas. The Fianna Fail/Labour coalition negotiations for government had been delayed by a row over who should have control over developments at Mullaghmore but Fianna Fail's Noel Dempsey (Minister of State with Responsibility for the OPW) won control of the future of the project despite Labour's attempts to bring it under the jurisdiction of Michael D. Higgins (Department for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht).
12 February 1993 The High Court ordered work on the partially completed centre at Mullaghmore to cease on the grounds that:
This rendered many previous developments carried out by the O.P.W. illegal.
16 February 1993 The Government introduced legislation retrospectively legitimising OPW developments and decided to appeal the planning element of the High Court judgment to the Supreme Court.
26 May 1993 The Supreme Court rejected the government appeal.
June 1993 Noel Dempsey announced that the government would seek planning permission for the Mullaghmore development after it had engaged in a series of public consultations. Drury Communications were hired by the OPW to publicise its case, and leaflets explaining the project with questionnaires inviting responses were distributed to houses in County Clare.
November 1993 Noel Dempsey announced that the centre would go ahead, subject to the granting of planning permission, with a 12.5% reduction in size. An EIS to accompany the planning application was commissioned.
January 1994 The new EIS was published and a planning application lodged.
February 1994 BAG applied to the High Court for an order restraining Clare County Council from processing the application until the High Court decided whether the retrospective legislation of 1993 could be applied to Mullaghmore. This was granted.
June 1994 The High Court decided that the OPW could, under the terms of the 1993 legislation, apply for planning permission. This allowed Clare County Council to begin assessing the application and external consultants were appointed to examine it.
Autumn 1994 Clare County Council twice requested additional information from the OPW on the advice of their consultants.
November 1994 An Bord Pleanala (Planning Appeals Board) refused the OPW permission to develop an interpretative centre planned for the Wicklow National Park at Luggala, Co. Wicklow.
December 1 1994 Labour withdrew from the coalition government in a row over the appointment of a new Attorney General. The new government formed by Labour, Fine Gael and Democratic Left, gave unequivocal responsibility for the current and future policy on National Parks to the Department for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht under Minister Michael D. Higgins.
March 28 1995 The Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht - Michael D. Higgins - announced that "the partially completed buildings (at Mullaghmore) are to be dismantled" and he invited interested parties to participate in a "management plan for the Burren before decisions are made to the site or sites of visitor centres for the National Park". The dismantling did not take place.
July 1996 Minister Higgins announced that he would apply for planning permission to retain one-sixth of the originally proposed and partially constructed centre for use as an access point but without interpretation facilities.
February 1996 "Draft Burren National Park Study" - produced by Brady, Shipman and Martin - is published. BAG welcomes the general thrust of the study, which emphasised that interpretation should take place in local villages, but rejects the studies assertion that there is a need for some limited facilities at Mullaghmore itself.
October 24 1996 The Commissioners for Public Works on behalf of the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht applies for planning permission to develop an "Entry Point" at Mullaghmore.
This application involves the retention of car parking space for 72 cars and 4 mini-buses, the building of a ranger station and toilet block, the retention of primary and secondary sewage treatment facilities, the development of two nature trails and the further widening of the access road to the area.
The development is being opposed by the Burren Action Group, An Taisce, the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, the Mountaineering Council of Ireland, World Wide Fund for Nature, Plantlife International, the Conservation Foundation (among others) and a large number of individuals from the north Clare area.
December 5 1996 The Heritage Council submits detailed series of observations on the planning application. This body was set up under the 1995 Heritage Act. Under this act part of its function includes the proposal of "policies and priorities for the identification, protection, preservation and enhancement of the national heritage". The Heritage Council is severely critical of the quality of the materials submitted by the OPW in support of its planning application for the "Entry Point" at Mullaghmore.
December 23 1996 Clare County Council request further information from the Commissioners of public works regarding the current application. More than two hundred objections to the current proposed "entry point" have been submitted to Clare County Council.