Clare County Council is due to make a decision today on whether it will grant permission to Pat McDonagh to construct a motorway services plaza on the outskirts of Ennis.
The Council has until today to issue a decision on the application which is in the name of Supermac’s CEO Pat McDonagh and seeks permission to develop the business at Kilbreckan, Clarecastle.
This is the third time he has sought the green light for this project – one application was granted by the Council but later rejected by An Bord Pleanala, while another was withdrawn.
The project promises the creation of around 100 jobs, as well as more during construction, but has faced opposition from the likes of Applegreen, and by a group of Ennis Chamber members.
Letters of support were submitted in favour of it, but these have become shrouded in controversy after it emerged that some were in the names of people who had not signed them.
27 have since been withdrawn.
Ennis-based environmental consultant Howard Williams told Clare FM that he delivered the letters to the Council before last month’s deadline, but insists he did so in good faith and that he had no part in generating the letters in question.
He said Pat McDonagh had no input into the preparation of the letters, and apologised to the businessman for any upset. For its part, Supermac’s condemned the false letters and called for a Garda investigation.
Today, the Council is due to make a ruling on the project, but it could opt to seek further information on the project.
Any decision, if one is made, can be further appealed to An Bord Pleanala.