A divisive visitor centre at Luggala is granted planning permission by Wicklow County Council.
Luggala is set among 80,000 acres of wild and rugged landscape offering panoramic views of the Wicklow Mountains. In 1991 the Office of Public Works (OPW) began construction on the Luggala interpretative centre.
However, in 1993 a High Court judgement ruled the OPW had no power to build this visitor centre. Construction drew to a standstill, but at that stage well over one million euro had been spent on the venture.
In 1994 the OPW lodged a planning application to go ahead with the centre. Opponents to the project are caught off guard by a sudden Wicklow County Council decision to grant planning permission, albeit subject to thirteen conditions.
Wicklow County Council acting county secretary Ultan McCabe explains that under these conditions, buses are prohibited from visiting the centre. The OPW must monitor the level of visitors' cars at peak hours. Wicklow County Council are also seeking a £255,000 contribution towards road improvements to service the centre,
Minor improvements that will not make it a motorway up to Luggala.
Despite the conditions attached to the planning approval, the Luggala interpretative centre remains a divisive issue in County Wicklow.
The once critical Independent TD Johnny Fox welcomes the planning permission for the visitor centre. He has been assured the centre will be of great tourist benefit to the village of Roundwood and north county Wicklow.
Local environmentalist, Guinness family member and Claddagh Records founder Garech Browne (Garech de Brún) is devastated by the decision and does not understand the need for an interpretive centre,
People have been going to Luggala for generations and they have no need to explain what the mountains are, there are no potential dangers, they are not going to be bitten by a sheep.
Environmental protestors are caught off guard by the suddenness of the Wicklow County Council decision. They must decide on their next move, but it is expected they will appeal the decision. Dermot Somers of the Mountaineering Council of Ireland is adamant they will be part of the process that will go to An Bord Pleanála to challenge the planning given to the OPW,
The struggle will certainly continue, and we intend to win.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 21 July 1994. The reporter is Teresa Mannion.
