Taoiseach's concern enough to see off Heritage site bid

The current proposal for world heritage site status for Clonmacnois is now dead, after the Taoiseach Brian Cowen voiced his disagreement with plans in their existing format. In a meeting with members of the Clonmacnois Action Group in recent weeks, the Taoiseach also gave a firm commitment that no application for world heritage site status would be made to UNESCO without local community agreement. According to the official minutes of the 45-minute meeting held in St Ciaran's School, Clonmacnois, on September 15 last, the Taoiseach said he could fully understand why the local people had rejected the proposal, acknowledging that the "so-called consultation process" had been "inadequate" and had "not been meaningful". Proof of this he said was in the nature of the unacceptable proposal that had been brought forward by the Department of Environment including how "extensive" and "poorly designed" it had been and that it had ended up with "polarised opposing views between people". Listening to the group's extensive list of concerns, Mr Cowen also pointed out that it needed to be ascertained what exactly the minimum requirements for the buffer zones were, as what was currently proposed might be appropriate for remote uninhabited areas but not where people were living. He said Clonmacnois was a site of world importance and it deserved the honour of World Heritage status, however, he said that the overriding issue was what process should be pursued. "Is it possible to find a process that is reasonable and not totally off-beam,?" he queried, asking local people to have an open mind on any future proposals. He said he would not be happy with any proposal that did not have the support of local people and that it would not be forced on the people against their wishes, a commitment that the group sought in writing from the Taoiseach, which he agreed to provide. The Taoiseach also committed to arranging for a liaison person to be nominated from the Department to be a point of contact for local people regarding any future correspondence. "Taking him at his word the present proposal is dead," Chairman of the Clonmacnois Action Group, John Dolan said this week. The group was set up in the wake of the controversial public meeting in Athlone last August, which saw over 200 farmers stage a walkout claiming the Department were trying to railroad through the proposals without proper consultation. "This is a lesson for the Department to do their homework on the ground and not impose what they think is right. "They have got people's backs up and I hate to think how much was spent on this process." He said the plan was extremely prohibitive, more or less sterilising 20,000 acres, as well as giving rise to fears for the future expansion of the school, burial grounds, planning and the Youth Festival. The consensus among locals was that there should be an outright no to the process. John Dolan said it was not a caveman no to a World Heritage bid but he called for a reasonable plan, which should start with talking with locals. "He (Taoiseach) feels the process should start from stage one again with local consultation," he added, pointing out that extent of the zones had taken many people by surprise as it was felt only the area around the monastic site would be covered. "That's were they need to start with a clean sheet. The only problem now is there is not as much good will towards the project now." Offaly-based Fianna Fáil councillor Sinéad Moylan-Ryan, who was also present at the meeting attended by the Taoiseach welcomed the commitment from him that the Clonmacnois proposal without local consent would not be going ahead. "As it stands the plan is a non-runner," she said, admitting that the proposal had got local people's backs up. Ireland currently has just three sites deemed by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) to be World Heritage sites - Skeilig Mhicíl in Kerry, the Giant's Causeway in Antrim and Newgrange, Co Meath. The bid to have the sixth century Offaly monastic site receive World Heritage designation is included in the current Programme for Government