Opposition to west Donegal wind turbines will not blow over say community leaders

A new group has vowed to oppose plans for the Cloghercor Wind Farm project near the Gweebarra Estuary.

The 19-turbine development is being proposed by a Danish multinational group Ørsted and FuturEnergy Ireland, a joint venture company owned by Coillte and ESB that launched in November 2021.

Locals gathered in Elliott's Bar, Leitirmacaward on Saturday to voice their concerns about health risks, dangers to local wildlife, peat bogs, property values and implications for the Wild Atlantic way and tourism in this area.

The 50-plus crowd listened as speakers from various areas of west Donegal outlined their opposition to this location. One pointed out that 300 industrial-type wind turbines in the county were enough while another spoke of the potential development of offshore wind farms in the Gweebarra Bay area and the danger it could pose for inland fisheries and the marine in general.

Others voiced opposition to a proposed extension to a wind farm just up the road at Maas near Glenties and another proposed development at Graffy, on the other side of Glenties.

"They want to surround us with turbines which means people will be pushed out of their homes and property prices will fall dramatically. They want to put up 200 metre turbines, that's the length of the Gweebarra bridge and will make them the highest in the country. Can you imagine that up on the hill around here?" asked Patricia Sharkey of the Gweebarra Conservation Group.

She said if these developments went ahead it would effectively mean the end of their communities and claimed she believed it was part of a plan to fill the area between Glenties and Dungloe with wind farms.

"Look at the environmental destruction that happened at Meenbog outside Ballybofey when they put turbines on bog land. They are proposing to do the same here only our hills are steeper. We also have to be mindful that we have a defective concrete crisis in this county and we have no guarantees the foundations for these windmills will be safe, " she added.

Other speakers pointed out that current EU law wasn't designed to deal with wind turbines so the big companies were getting away with these developments.

Several speakers criticised the lack of action from local TDs and senators and the failure of An Bord Pleanála to keep these projects in check. 

"They are making decisions about a community's future and I'll bet they have never even been here to see how it is affecting us," said one speaker.

The meeting also heard it was crucial they kept an eye on when companies applied for projects like this as they usually submitted them around Christmas time when people were off guard.

"They are all working against what's best for the people living here, public opinion and we will not stand for it anymore.

After various contributions and various strategies were discussed it was decided to former a new committee called 'Stad' which means stop in Irish, comprising representatives of different organisations in the area to campaign to half the wind farm developments vigorously.

"We have to let these millionaire developers know that our land is not going to be subjected to industralisation, we are not going to put our health in jeopardy so they can make money and our campaign will not blow over," said Ms Sharkey.

The committee is set to meet again in the coming day to plan its next move.