FRESH plans to complete the controversial Meenbog wind farm on the Tyrone-Donegal border have reignited fears of another environmental disaster, six years after a catastrophic bog slide sent hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of peat cascading into a river system, devastating wildlife and threatening drinking water supplies.
The new planning application seeks permission to complete the 19-turbine development at Meenbog, outside Ballybofey – the site of the 2020 bog slide that triggered one of the region’s most serious environmental incidents in recent years.
The proposal is currently under consideration by Ireland’s national planning authority, with a decision expected by November 5.
Local councillor Keith Kerrigan (DUP) said he would have concerns if such a development went ahead. He recalled the massive damage it did right throughout the Mourne and Derg rivers at the time and said people locally would be concerned if such a development went ahead.
“I wonder if the bog has recovered to complete such a development and although conditions have been dry for a while, I still recall the devastation the mud slide caused to many people in this area. The initial peat slippage poured directly into the Shruhangarve stream before flowing onward into the nearby Mourne Beg River and Derg River and down as far as Ardstraw and impacted all those river beds and breeding grounds which have still not fully recovered.
“Considering the significant environment impact the slide caused in the Derg DEA of Derry City and Strabane District Council, there would be need to proper consultation and significant environmental assurances before we would have any inclination to support it. I know it is a Donegal Co Council issue but the likes of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, DAERA, Loughs Agency as well as Derry City and Strabane District Council need to be consulted at every state. I would call for an investigation into what the current state of play is and I will be bringing the matter up at our next council planning meeting in September.”
He added concern is growing that local farmers and fishermen might be affected again.
The 2020 disaster saw more than a quarter of a million cubic feet of peat break away from the mountainside and pour into the Mourne Beg River near Castlederg, smothering fish spawning grounds and destroying aquatic plants and insect life. The pollution also raised serious concerns over local drinking water supplies.
Construction at the wind farm was halted in the aftermath of the incident, but six years later developer Planree is seeking approval to complete the project.
The company was fined £1,500 for pollution offences arising from the bog slide and ordered to compensate the Loughs Agency. While legal proceedings found the construction works had caused the peat slide, the courts concluded the company had not acted negligently.
The scale of the proposed development remains significant, with plans for 19 turbines standing 513 feet high.The development would cover 1,018 hectares.
The renewed application has prompted deep concern among local residents, many of whom fear history could repeat itself.
The proposed development has already faced significant legal setbacks.
In 2024, the High Court granted Donegal County Council an order preventing any further works at the site. Later that year, the Court of Appeal ruled that the wind farm, as constructed, was unauthorised because it materially deviated from the planning permission originally granted.
In her judgment, Ms Justice Butler stated that the existing works on the ground were not authorised by the planning permission and that material deviations rendered the overall development unauthorised.
The original environmental damage drew condemnation from political leaders on both sides of the border.
At the time, then Northern Ireland Environment Minister Edwin Poots and Ireland’s Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue described the environmental destruction as “shocking”.
Warnings that such a disaster could occur had also been raised before construction began.
In a planning objection submitted in 2018, Dr Pádraig Ó Cathain warned that building on blanket bog presented a serious risk of ground failure. He argued that existing forestry planting had already weakened the peatland and claimed the developer had failed to demonstrate that construction would not create “an unreasonable risk of soil failure and ensuing pollution to the surrounding area.”
The Meenbog wind farm was originally intended to generate renewable electricity for Amazon Web Services data centres in Ireland, a project welcomed at the time by then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and then Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton.
Amazon has never publicly commented on the 2020 bog slide.
With a planning decision now looming, the proposal is once again placing the balance between renewable energy development and environmental protection under intense public scrutiny, while residents remain fearful that one of the region’s most damaging ecological incidents could be repeated.
The planning application can be viewed at: https://share.google/3qnCTJHiZyHy2WyNV
