Published: Wednesday, 16th September, 2009 8:00pm

Consultations with locals could make Clonmacnois bid work - Minister

The Department of the Environment will listen "very carefully" to every person who has made a submission on the Clonmacnois World Heritage bid in the hopes that their concerns are allayed and the bid can go ahead.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley, whose department is behind the bid to obtain World Heritage status for the monastic site, said that widespread consultation was part of the UNESCO process and was absolutely necessary to address people's concerns, no matter how long it takes.

"They are all valid opinions... It's not as if this is some sort of bureaucracy that doesn't care about the rights of people, we take those very seriously," he added. "I want to give an assurance that we are going to listen very carefully."

He said that all the submissions, around 400 of them, will be gone through by the department as soon as possible but that this part of the process would take some time.

He gave no deadline as to how long this consultation process will take. "People are expressing their opinions about the likely impact, or what's perceived to be the likely impact, but I think it's a great process because that's what it's all about, it's about consultation. We take those views very seriously. And then, as part of the process we would like to engage on a personal level with those people," he said.

He added that the department and consultants ERA MAPTEC would be sensitive to the needs of local people and local landowners and that was the only way the submission would work, especially when dealing with people who have concerns about burial rights and access to loved ones' graves.

However, the Minister said that he wanted the bid to work as it would benefit the people of Ireland. "It is an historic site of huge significance, nationally as well, and for that reason we take it seriously... This is also of huge significance to the whole country."