Concerns have been raised about a possible repeat of the Meenbog bog slide if more wind farms are granted planning permission in the Donegal-Tyrone border area.
Planree Limited, a subsidiary of Invis Energy, was fined €1,500 over the Meenbog peat slide in 2020. The major environmental incident in November 2020 saw hundreds of cubic metres of peat and debris entering the Mournebeg River, near Ballybofey.
Independent TD Thomas Pringle told the Dáil today that he had concerns that a similar serious incident could be repeated in the future, as current planning applications are seeking to build other wind farms in the area near Meenbog.
Deputy Pringle told the Dáil that the site had not been suitable for planting trees, let alone a windfarm.
He called on the Tánaiste to look into the delay in the investigation into the bog slide. A cross-border investigation into the impact of the landslide has been ongoing for three years.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said Deputy Pringle made a ‘fair point’ in relation to the timing of the probe, but said that he cannot interfere in the matter.
Mr Martin said: “If the government started speaking to the various independent investigators to say: ‘Hurry up there, sort this out quickly we need to get a clear landscape in terms of what is going to happen’, people will start accusing government of interfering in an impartial investigation.”
He added that he will seek an update on the investigation.
