The High Court has made an order prohibiting Roscommon County Council from continuing flood relief work at Lough Funshinagh until a legal challenge is finalised.
The works, involving the installation of an overflow pipe in a bid to prevent flooding, were approved by the chief executive of Roscommon County Council on October 14 last.
In December 2021, the court granted Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) leave to seek a judicial review of the controversial works.
During that court hearing, a stay was put on the works by the court, this was extended for a further two weeks when the case was mentioned on January 14.
FIE claims that the interim works are essentially the same project as that which was quashed by the High Court on August 25, 2021, apart from the permanent inflow at Lough Funshinagh being replaced on a temporary basis with floating pipes and mobile diesel generators.
The group previously said that it had “considerable sympathy with those affected by the water levels at Lough Funshinagh, but the decision by the council represents an egregious attempt to bypass environmental and planning law”.
Lough Funshinagh works
Last Friday (January 28 2022), the case taken by FIE came back before the court.
During the hearing, the High Court made an order preventing Roscommon County Council from proceeding with the works at Lough Funshinagh pending the outcome of the legal challenge by FIE.
A statement from the local authority noted that the court described the issue as “presenting a very real dilemma”.
“If the court was to refuse the order, but FIE were to ultimately win their case, the court would have allowed works near a protected European site without full compliance with required procedures.
“If the court was to grant the order, but FIE were to lose their case, the court would have delayed emergency flood relief works to after a point in time when they would not be available to alleviate potential flood risk during the forthcoming winter,” the council stated.
The local authority spokesperson added that the High Court found that there was a conflict in the evidence presented by FIE and Roscommon County Council that it could not resolve.
The council statement continued: “The court concluded that the evidence produced by FIE was sufficient to establish a real risk to the protected European site that justified the prohibition for the time being.”
The High Court is due to release a written judgement on the matter this week and has listed the case for mention on February 17.