A High Court bid backed by west Clare locals, Hollywood actor Jared Harris and other members of the late Richard Harris’s family to halt a planned waste-water treatment plan for the resort of Kilkee has failed.
This follows Mr Justice Richard Humphreys dismissing the High Court judicial review proceedings by a number of locals against a decision by An Coimisíun Pleanála in June of last year to give the contentious project the green light.
The ACP permission overturned a planning refusal issued by Clare Co Council in October 2024 after widespread local opposition to the project for a site near Dunlicky Rd, Kilkee.
In its grant of permission, ACP dismissed the recommendation of its own inspector to refuse planning permission.
In his 30 page ruling, Mr Justice Humphreys found that quashing the ACP planning permission “would be disproportionate in the circumstances”.
The High Court action was taken by Martin Busher, Joseph McCloskey, Brian Melican, Ivan Graydon, Tom Boland and Terry Reynolds.
The legal action by the applicants is being financed and supported by locals who in the aftermath of the ACP decision established the Save Kilkee Cliff Walk GoFundMe page which has raised just under €100,000.
The largest contributors to the funding campaign have been members of the Harris and the Richard Harris Estate.
The Limerick born twice Oscar-nominated actor and star of Gladiator and The Field had strong associations with the resort and used to spend his Summers in Kilkee.
Over five days in April, the Richard Harris Estate donated €5,000; star of the awarding winning ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Chernobyl’ and ‘The Crown’, Jared Harris and his wife, Allegra donated €5,000, Jamie, Bree, Cloe and Lily Harris donated €4,000; the Harris Family donated €3,000 and Damian, Ella and Marlowe Harris donated €3,000 – a total of €20,000.
The GoFundMe total on Sunday stood at €97,687.
Kilkee is not currently served by any wastewater treatment infrastructure which results in raw sewage including human waste being directly discharged into the sea.
The Uisce Eireann proposal is designed to address this but locals are opposing the proposed plant on a number of grounds.
On behalf of the Kilkee campaign group opposed to the proposal, Ellie Byrne said on Sunday: “The High Court ruling is devastating for our community and for Kilkee’s many visitors. However, it does not diminish the validity of the concerns that have united the people of Kilkee throughout this campaign.
Ms Byrne said: “We remain convinced that Kilkee deserves modern, future-proof wastewater infrastructure but it must be in an appropriate location, with an appropriate level of treatment, and developed in genuine partnership with the community rather than imposed upon it.
Ms Byrne said: “Our objections have never been ideological. They are based on the location, the environmental implications and the nature of the infrastructure being proposed. This is not the modern tertiary wastewater treatment plant that the people of Kilkee have been promised for decades.
She said: “Instead, what is proposed is a primary treatment facility that removes solid waste for transportation by truck several times each week, sloshing past walkers on our famed cliff walk, while the remaining effluent is discharged into Kilkee Bay, adjacent to one of Ireland’s most iconic landscapes and within a protected Special Area of Conservation.”
Ms Byrne said: “These are serious concerns that have been shared by local residents, visitors, environmental experts and indeed by Clare County Council, which originally refused planning permission on numerous ecological and planning grounds relating to the unsuitability of the site. Those concerns have never gone away.
She said: “This Judicial Review was never a referendum on whether the proposed development is the right solution for Kilkee. It was a legal challenge concerning the decision-making process. The ruling does not change the fact that our community has profound and unresolved concerns about the suitability of this proposal.”
Ms Byrne described the planning and legal row with Uisce Éireann as “a David versus Goliath battle”.
She said in contrast to the Uisce Eireann lawyers funded by the taxpayer “our campaign represents a small coastal town of approximately 1,000 people, forced to fundraise simply to have our concerns heard in court”.
She said: “Despite the overwhelming imbalance in resources, our community stood together because we believe this development is fundamentally wrong for Kilkee.”
A spokeswoman for Uisce Éireann said on Sunday: “Uisce Éireann welcomes the decision by the High Court to uphold An Coimisiún Pleanálá’s decision to grant planning for a new wastewater treatment plant for Kilkee, Co. Clare.
She said: “We recognise and respect that there are differing views in relation to this development and look forward to engaging openly, factually and constructively with local residents and key stakeholders in the coming months.
She added: “This is a vital project to end the discharge of raw sewage at one of Ireland’s scenic locations.”
