the aarhus convention and the experience of public ...stud.epsilon.slu.se/9827/1/devane_d_j_161117...
TRANSCRIPT
Denis John Devane
Department of Urban and Rural Development Master’s Thesis – 30 HEC
European Master in Environmental Science (EnvEuro) Uppsala 2016
Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences
TheAarhusConventionandtheExperienceofPublicParticipationinEnvironmentalImpactAssessments:ACaseStudyofanOnshoreWindFarmintheRepublicof
Ireland
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TheAarhusConventionandtheExperienceofPublicParticipationinEnvironmentalImpactAssessments:ACaseStudyofanOnshoreWindFarmintheRepublicofIreland
DenisJohnDevane
Supervisor:AntoienetteWärnbäck,SwedishUniversityofAgriculturalSciences,
DepartmentofUrbanandRuralDevelopment
AssistantSupervisor:AndreasdeNeergaard,UniversityofCopenhagen,
DepartmentofPlantandEnvironmentalSciences
Examiner:ZeinabTag-Eldeen,SwedishUniversityofAgriculturalSciences,
DepartmentofUrbanandRuralDevelopment
Credits:30ECTS/HEC
Level:Secondcycle,A2E
Coursetitle:IndependentProjectinEnvironmentalSciences
CourseCode:EX0431
Programme:EuropeanMasterinEnvironmentalSciences(EnvEuro)
Placeofpublication:Uppsala
YearofPublication:2016
CoverPicture:LisheenTurbines,Photo,D.Devane2015
Copyright:AllfeaturedimagesareusedwithpermissionfromCopyrightowner.
Onlinepublication:http://stud.epsilon.slu.se
Keywords:EnvironmentalImpactAssessment,PublicParticipation,Aarhus
Convention,ExperienceofParticipation,WindEnergy
Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences Department of Urban and Rural Development
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Abstract
Public participation in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process is
essential to expediting societies’ shift from fossil fuels to renewable energies
suchaswindpower.The current stateofpublicparticipation inEIAs ishighly
contested as the debate on what can be done to improve it continues. The
primaryfocusofthethesisistostudypublicparticipationanditsuseinanIrish
EIA.ItaimstoexploreexactlyhowstakeholdersoftheLisheenWindFarmcase
experienced the public participation offered to them and towhat extent did it
abidebythemainthreeprincipalpillarsoftheAarhusConvention.Theresearch
approachadopted in this thesisutilisesanexplorativecasestudyapproach.By
choosing a single representative case study the thesis can concentrate on
assessinghow thepublic participationwas conducted aswell as exploring the
experiencesoftheparticipants.Qualitativemethodswerepredominatelyusedas
thethesisadoptedadualanalysisapproachutilisingpracticeevaluationcriteria
andphenomenologicalmethods.
Thecasestudyfindingsshowedthatallofthepracticeevaluationcriteriawere
fulfilled. However; the results also displayed the weaknesses that are still
present inpublicparticipation today, suchaspoor informationprovision,poor
facilitation and the existence of monetary barriers. The phenomenological
analysis, with its focus onmore subjective elements, found that social factors
suchascivicdutyandself-perceptioncanaffecthowmuchparticipantsengage
intheparticipationprocess.Theconclusionsdrawnfromthecasestudyfindings
are, firstly, that the public participation in the case adhered to the primary
principals of the Aarhus Convention. Secondly that deeper insights gathered
fromtheexperiencesofparticipantsareanunderutilisedandcouldbevaluable
assetinthegoalofimprovingpublicparticipationinEIAs.
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Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my wonderful mother Margaret.
Withouther loveandsteadfast support throughoutmy life Iwouldneverhave
gottentowhereIamtoday.Loveyoualways,restinpeace.
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Acknowledgements
Iwould firstly like to thankmy primary supervisor AntoienetteWärnbäck for
herguidance,supportandpatiencethroughouttheresearchandwritingofthis
thesis.InlightofthedifficultiesIfacedontheroadtocompletingthisthesisshe
was invaluable in helpingmenavigatemyway through it. Iwould also like to
showmyappreciationformyKøbenhavnsUniversitetcosupervisorAndreasde
Neergaard for all his help in this process. Secondly, Iwant to also expressmy
gratitudetothecommunityofTempletuohyandMoyne,withouttheiropenness
andwillingtohelpthisthesiswouldn’thavebeenpossible.
FinallyIwouldliketothankmyparents,mytwobrilliantsistersandmyfriends
whohelpedmeget to thispointwithmoral support, guidanceand listening to
myendlessconversationsaboutwindturbinesandhowthethesisisgoing.
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TableofcontentAbstract..................................................................................................................................................................3Dedication.............................................................................................................................................................4Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................................................5Abbreviations......................................................................................................................................................81. Introduction................................................................................................................................................91.1. ResearchFocus................................................................................................................................151.2. AimandResearchQuestion.......................................................................................................161.3. Delimitation:Time,SubjectandArea....................................................................................16
2. Method.........................................................................................................................................................182.1. ResearchDesign:Casestudyapproach................................................................................182.1.1. Casestudy:ARepresentativecase.................................................................................182.1.2. Sampling....................................................................................................................................19
2.2. DataCollectionTechniques.......................................................................................................202.2.1. Interviews.................................................................................................................................202.2.2. Documentstudy.....................................................................................................................212.2.3. Bracketing.................................................................................................................................21
2.3. ApproachtoDataAnalysis.........................................................................................................212.3.1 Analysis1:PublicParticipationandtheAarhusConvention..............................222.3.2. Analysis2:Phenomenological.........................................................................................23
2.4. Limitations........................................................................................................................................262.4.2. Generalizabilityfromasinglecase................................................................................262.3.2. LimitedPhenomenologicalanalysis..............................................................................27
3. TheoreticalFramework.......................................................................................................................283.1. TheSocialConstructionofReality..........................................................................................283.2. TheLife-World................................................................................................................................30
4. DescriptionofCaseStudy:LisheenWindFarmdevelopment,CountyTipperary,RepublicofIreland..........................................................................................................................................314.1. GeographicalCaseArea:TempletuohyandMoyneParish..........................................324.2. LisheenWindFarmDevelopment2006–2013...............................................................324.3. Phase1:Operationalin2009....................................................................................................334.4. Phase2:Operationalin2013....................................................................................................344.5. Regulatoryaspects.........................................................................................................................354.6. Participantsandothergroups..................................................................................................374.6.1. MrTimBergin.........................................................................................................................374.6.2. MrRichardDaly......................................................................................................................384.6.3. MrPaddyDoyle......................................................................................................................38
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4.6.4. Cllr.JohnHogan......................................................................................................................384.7. AngloAmericanLisheenMiningLtdandSWSEnergy...................................................394.7.1. ParishForum...........................................................................................................................394.7.2. MoyneTempletuohyCommunityActionGroup......................................................40
5. CaseStudyFindings:Part1.PublicParticipationandtheAarhusConvention-Description,AnalysisandResults.............................................................................................................415.1. GeneralBracketing........................................................................................................................415.1.1. InterviewSpecificBracketing:MrTimBergin..........................................................425.1.2. InterviewSpecificBracketing:MrRichardDaly......................................................425.1.3. InterviewSpecificBracketing:MrPaddyDoyle.......................................................425.1.4. InterviewSpecificBracketing:MrJohnHogan.........................................................42
5.2. TheAarhusprinciplesintheLisheenWindFarm...........................................................425.2.1. AccessibilityandInformationprovision.....................................................................455.2.2. CommunicationandInteraction.....................................................................................475.2.3. Opennessandclarityoflegalprovisions.....................................................................495.2.4. Influence....................................................................................................................................51
5.3. Subconclusion.................................................................................................................................546. CaseStudyFindingsPart2:Phenomenologicalanalysisoftheindepthinterviews55
6.1. ReducedHorizonalDescriptionofMrTimBergin’sParticipation...........................556.2. ReducedHorizonalDescriptionofMrRichardDaly’sParticipation........................566.3. ReducedHorizonalDescriptionofMrPaddyDoyle’sParticipation........................586.4. ReducedHorizonalDescriptionofCllr.JohnHogan’sParticipation........................596.5. CompositeTextualDescription:OfParticipationintheLisheenCasestudy.......606.5.1. InformedParticipation........................................................................................................616.5.2. RepresentationandCommunityIdentity....................................................................616.5.3. Self-PerceptionwithintheLocalCommunity............................................................626.5.4. ParticipationasaDuty........................................................................................................62
6.6. SubConclusion................................................................................................................................637. Discussion..................................................................................................................................................647.1. PublicParticipationandweaknessesoftheAarhusConvention..............................647.2. Barrierstoparticipation.............................................................................................................707.3. Theoreticalconsiderationsonthecase................................................................................727.4. Alternativeapproachesandmethodologicalreflection................................................747.5. Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................79
8. Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................819. ListofFigures...........................................................................................................................................9010.Appendix......................................................................................................................................................91
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Abbreviations
AALM AngloAmericanLisheenMiningLtd
COP ConferenceofParties
EIA EnvironmentalImpactAssessment
EIS EnvironmentalImpactStatement
EU EuropeanUnion
GAA GaelicAthleticAssociation
MW Megawatts
NIMBY NotInMyBackyard
UNECE TheUnitedNationsEconomicCommissionforEurope
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1. Introduction
Forty years of progress has brought about great changewithin environmental
management. A key component in its development was the emergence and
spread of EIAs. EIAs entail a broad set of processes that evaluate proposed
actions, be they development projects or policies, for their likely impacts
throughoutallaspectsoftheenvironment.Theynotonlyassessthebiophysical
aspectsofprojectsbutareresponsible forassessing thesocial impactsaswell.
The United States National Environment Policy Act first initiated the
development of the EIA process and within it inserted the concept of public
participation(Jay2007).Publicparticipation,initsbroadestsense,istheprocess
in which affected individuals, local communities and interested groups are
consultedprior to anydecisionsbeingmade (Glucker2013).Themain goal of
publicparticipationisgivingthepublicavoiceandaroleinthedecisionmaking
process.
TheimportanceoftheroleofpublicparticipationinEIAshasbeenunderscored
intheAarhusConventiononAccesstoInformation,PublicParticipationandAccess
to Justice in Environmental Matters (European Commission, 2005). It set out
minimum requirements for public participation in environmental decision-
making for the European Union (EU)member states and other countrieswho
optionallyfollowthedirectives.CurrentacademicliteraturesuchasHartleyand
Wood (2005), O’ Faircheallaigh (2010), Lostarnau, C. (2011), and Doelle M,
Sinclair J. (2006) echo the importance and centrality of public participation
withintheEIA.Alongwithitsimportancethesearticlesalsoillustratethatthere
isnosingledefinitionofpublicparticipation.Itscharacterisdifficulttoplaceas
it tends to assume an unambiguous decisionmaking structure, that implicitly
involves a bureaucratic management system which controls decisions and
influence (Boon 1999). Its complexity has only spurred onmore academics to
research the area. Retief (2010) identifies theoretical grounding, quality and
effectiveness as the three main themes seen in the literature produced on
environmental assessment. These broad themes explain the direction of the
majorityofliteratureonpublicparticipationwithintheEIAprocess.Thepolitical
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realities of decision-making coupled with the shift towards more critical
assessments ofEIA saw thedominanceof the technocraticmodelsbegin tobe
questioned: alternative views on its public participation practices and the
realitiesofdecision-makingbroughtaboutnewconceptssuchasenvironmental
justiceandparticipatoryformsofdemocracy.TheimportanceofEIAsandpublic
participations rolewithin it is not localised to just the specific areas inwhich
theseassessmentsoccur.Theyalsoplayamuchlargerroleinrelationtoouron-
goingeffortstomanagethecurrentenvironmentalpressuretheplanetisunder.
Attheendof2015,195countriesformallyadoptedtheParisAgreement,aglobal
actionplantoavoiddangerousclimatechangebylimitingglobalwarming,atthe
21st Conference of Parties (COP) meeting (UNFCC 2015). As the first binding
global climate accord it marks a definitive shift from the status quo of global
inaction on climate change. By setting agreed upon targets for emissions
reductionaimedatlimitingtheriseinglobalaveragetemperaturestowellbelow
2 °c + pre-industrial levels, there is a rapidneed for nations to push forward
with renewable energy projects (ibid). This transition to a low carbon society
will require considerable effort in shifting communities’ dependent on fossil
fuels towardsrenewableenergyresources.TheEUhasalreadybeen leading in
thisareaasithasstrivedtowardsincreasingtheproductionofrenewableenergy
formanyyears(EEA2016).TheEURenewableEnergyDirectivesetsabinding
targetthat20%finalenergyusebeproducedfromrenewablesourcesby2020
(ibid). In light of these targets many EU member states have increased their
adoptionofwindpowergenerationtohelpincreasetheirrenewableusage(The
Economist2016).
However, the adoption and use of wind power in Europe has met some
resistance that has caused implementation issues. Wolsink (2007) as well as
Devine (2005) and many others stress that the issues with public attitudes
towards wind turbines is dominated by the visual impact they have on the
landscape and to a lesser extent noise concerns. Public opposition to the
development of wind power schemes is regularly attributed to not-in-my-
backyard (NIMBY) -- this point is even made by academics (Wolsink 2007).
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However,Wolsink (2007) argues that this view is too simplistic.More critical
issues such as reduced quality of life, property values and other perceived
negative impacts on local communities could be under-represented. Public
participationshouldprovideaforumfordiscussionwiththesecommunitiesand
alleviatesomeoftheseissuesfrombecominglastingissues.Thustheimportance
of how public participation and research is conducted in this area could be
argued tohave adirect bearingon the future growthof the renewable energy
sectorintheEU.
Thismaster thesiswill explorehowpublicparticipationwas conductedwithin
EIAandwhatroletheAarhusConventionplayedbyfocusingonaspecificcase
fromaEuropeancountry.OneEuropeancountrythatiscurrentlyundergoinga
rapid improvement in their growth of renewable energy production is the
Republic of Ireland. Located on the north-western edge of the EU, the Rep. of
Ireland isperfectlypositioned to takeadvantageof thevigorousnorthAtlantic
weathersystems.Troen(1989)notesthatIrelandhassomeofthehighestwind
recourses available in all of the EU. As of 2013 16.4% of Ireland’s renewable
energy has been produced from wind farms spread all over the country.
Electricity produced from renewables in Ireland reached nearly 21% of gross
electricityutilizationin2013,however,theRepublicofIreland’s2020targetfor
renewableelectricitygenerationis40%(Howley,Holland&Dineen2014).Thus
wecanseethattheRepublicofIrelandwerejustoverthehalfwaypointtowards
reachingtheir40%EUrenewabletargets,withwindenergyactingasthebiggest
driver(ibid).Themostuptodateofficial figuresputthepercentageatcloseto
23%andwithaconsiderableriseeachyear(Eurostat2016).Thisisalsoseenin
the Irish national energy grids plans to expand their current energy
infrastructure tomakeway for the influx of renewable energy (Eirgrid Group
2016).TherapidgrowthintheIrishrenewablessectorisillustratedinFig1.
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Fig.1.DiagramgeneratedbyEurostatsoftware.(Eurostat2016)
ThefuturegrowthanddevelopmentofrenewableenergiesacrossEuropebrings
withittheincreaseduseofenvironmentalmanagementtoolssuchasEIA,which
actively contain public participation. Having been developed over the last 40
yearsEIAshavebeenformulatedinreactiontotheincreasingawarenessofthe
levels of environmental degradation caused by mismanagement and poor
planning (Jay 2007). The EIA Directive (85/337/EEC) has been in force since
1985; it requiresmember states to carry out assessments on awide range of
publicandprivateprojects(EuropeanCommission2016).Therearestrictrules
governingwhatprojectsrequireanEIA.Theyplayadirectroleinalmostevery
majorinfrastructuraldevelopmentacrosstheEU,asmanywouldbeclassifiedas
requiringamandatoryEIA.Otherprojects fallunder thediscretionofMember
Statesthroughascreeningprocess(ibid).Thedirectivehasbeenamendedthree
timessinceitsinceptionforanumberofreasonsincludingtransbountaryissues
andcaptureand storageof carbondioxide.However,pertinent to this study is
the amendment aligning EIA procedures with the provisions of the Aarhus
Convention(ibid).
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TheUnitedNationsEconomicCommission forEurope (UNECE)Conventionon
Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to
JusticeinEnvironmentalMatterswasadoptedonthe25thofJune1998inDanish
the cityAarhus (UNECE1998).Usually shortened to theAarhusConvention, it
establishes a number or rights for the public in specific regards to the
environment. Although adopted in 1998 countries were given an extended
periodoftimeinordertodraftnationallevellegislation(ibid).Forexample,the
RepublicofIrelandonlyofficiallyratifiedtheconventiononthe20thofJune2012
(DepartmentoftheEnvironment2016).
TheAarhusConventionowes its foundationstotheRioDeclaration in1992,as
what followed from the global consultations was the non-binding Agenda 21
voluntary action plan for sustainable development and Principal 10 of theRio
Declaration on Environment and Development (UN 2015). The three primary
pillars of the convention were seen in their infancy as a prerequisite for the
declarationsonsustainabledevelopmentgoals.Chapter8,Section1appealsfor
greaterpublicparticipationinpolicycreationanddecision-makingwhileSection
3 argues for the strengthening of position of principal social groups such as
indigenouspopulations(UN2015).Principle10emphasizesthatenvironmental
issues are best handled with participation of concerned citizens; enshrines
access to information; argues for the opportunity to participate in decision
making processes and access to judicial/administrative processes. Its
significanceisclear,asthesecentralpointsarewhateventuallyformedthethree
pillarsoftheAarhusConvention(UNGeneralAssembly1992).
TomakethecommunicationoftheAarhusConventionsimplertheconventionis
formallybrokenintothefollowingthreefundamentalpillars:
Pillar1–Accesstoinformation
The4tharticleoftheconventionsetsouttherightofeveryonetogainaccessto
environmentalinformation.Thisensuresthatthepublichastheabilitytoknow
what ishappening intheirenvironmentandensurestheirabilitytoparticipate
inaninformedmanner(UNECE1998).
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Pillar2–PublicParticipationinEnvironmentalDecision-Making
Article 6 sets out to establish the right of the public to participate in
environmentaldecision-making.Publicparticipation isnotexplicitlydefined in
theConventionbutinitspreambleitrecitesthevalueswhichlieattheheartof
public participation. The right of the public to assert the right to reside in an
environmentthatishealthyandtodoonesdutyinprotectingtheenvironmentis
themostprominentpoint.Earlyinvolvementofthepublicisheavilyencouraged
andlegallyensuresthatsuitableinvolvementmustoccur(Stec2000).
Pillar3–AccesstoJustice
The final pillar is seen in Article 9, which requires authorities to provide an
appropriate mechanism to safeguard the rights of the public under national
environmentallaw.Thisallowsthepublictoaccessreviewprocedures,whichact
as a medium through which written omissions can be made in an adequate
timely manner. It should be noted that without Pillar’s 1 and 3 it would be
impossibleforPillar2tofunctioneffectively(UNECE1998).
FundamentallytheAarhusConventionisaimedatsettingbasicrules forpublic
authorities. When it comes to the Republic of Ireland legislating the
implementationof theConvention therearesome importantaspects thatmust
benoted.Statutoryinstrument‘No.133/2007–EuropeanCommunities(Access
toInformationontheEnvironment)Regulations2007-2011’amongotherthings
expandedthedefinitionofwhatapublicauthoritycanbe.Itexpandedto“include
otherpersonsorbodiesperformingpublicadministrative functions in relation to
the environment under national law, as well as other persons or bodies acting
undertheircontrolandhavingpublicresponsibilitiesorfunctionsinrelationtothe
environment.” (Government of Ireland 2007, p. 1). Thus in this research the
companywhich provided the EIA, Anglo American LisheenMining Ltd (AALM
Ltd),isoneofthesebodiesandthusboundbytheConvention.
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1.1. ResearchFocus
TheprimaryfocusofthisstudywillbeonpublicparticipationanditsuseinIrish
EIAs.Through theanalysisofa specific Irishcase theexplorativeresearchwill
attempt to provide a deeper exploration into the experience of public
participation in EIAs and how the principals of the Aarhus Convention were
adheredto.PublicparticipationwithinEIAshasreceivedaconsiderableamount
of academic criticismwith regard to its practice and issues such as failure to
influencedecision-makingandpoorinformationprevision(Petts1999b;Hartley
2005). This thesis will concentrate on the case of the ‘Lisheen Wind Farm’
developmentintheRepublicofIreland.Situatedinarural,populatedareawhose
community has had limited experience with EIAs, the case had a meaningful
bearing on national planning policy. It represents a contemporary example of
howsmallruralcommunitiesreacttothedevelopmentoflargewindfarmsand
howcurrentEIAparticipationisconductedinIreland.
Publicparticipationhasbeenviewedfundamentallyasabeneficialdevelopment
forboththeenvironmentandsociety.TheEuropeanCourtofJusticeessentially
assumesthepositivevaluesthatpublicparticipationbringsandtheyvigorously
enforceitsusethroughEIAs(Ryall2009).TheAarhusConvention, inprinciple,
should provide the public with some of the best legal protection available in
responsetomajordevelopmentsintheirlocalities.
Previous research in this area is typified by Judith Petts (1999) with a
concentrationonassessmentofqualityandhowpublicparticipationwithinEIAs
is practiced.Often theseworkswouldneglect themore subjective elements of
theEIA.However,otherresearcherssuchasWilkins(2003)notetheimportance
of subjectivity inEIAs andargue its role in creatingdiscourseon social values
could fostermoreenvironmentalsustainability.Researchadvocatingsubjective
elements is rare and few studies place participants’ experiences in a central
position.Havingtheabovepictureinminditisarguablethattherecouldbeagap
in the knowledge being produced on public participationwithin EIA research.
The inclusion of more in-depth human centredmethods in the assessment of
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public participation within EIAs may help yield more substantial conclusions
aboutthewaypublicparticipationinEIAsisbeingpracticed.
1.2. AimandResearchQuestion
The aim with this master thesis is to explore how public participation was
conducted within Irish EIA and what role the Aarhus Convention played.
Assessment criteriawasutilised to explore thepublicparticipation in the case
throughassessingitsadherencetotheAarhusConvention.Thiswillbecombined
with an exploration into exactly how the participants experienced the
phenomenonofpublicparticipationthatwasofferedtothem.This leadstothe
followingresearchquestion,
Howhave thestakeholdersof theLisheenWindFarmexperienced theirpublic
participationinvolvementinitsIrishenvironmentalimpactassessmentandhow
muchoftheAarhusConvention’srightstoaccesswerefulfilled?
Namelytherightto,
I. Accesstoenvironmentalinformation,
II. Publicparticipationinenvironmentaldecision-making
III. Accesstojustice.
1.3. Delimitation:Time,SubjectandArea
In relation to time, the study has been limited to the events, which occurred
duringthedevelopmentoftheturbinesbetween2006and2013.Thiswasdone
forpractical reasons,as itwas the timeframe inwhich thepublicparticipation
occurred. The LisheenWind Farm case had two distinct development phases,
2006-2009 and 2009-2013. The majority of the public participation occurred
during the first phase of development thus for analysis purposes the research
willprimarilyconcentrateonthefirstphaseofwindturbineconstruction. The
subjectofpublicparticipationwillbe limitedto itsusewithinEIAs,specifically
17
the EIA in the Republic of Ireland, a EU member state. The geographical
boundaryofthisstudywillbearoundtheareainwhichthecaseoccurred,thatof
thetownlandsofTempletuohyandMoyne,locatedinNorthCo.Tipperaryinthe
RepublicofIreland.
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2. Method
Thischapterwillclarifytheresearchapproachandmethodsusedtogatherthe
empiricaldataforthisthesis. Itwillbeginbyoutliningtheresearchdesignand
the reasoning for the case study approach. Following this the sampling, data
collection techniques and data analysis will be elaborated upon. Finally this
chapterwill concludewith acknowledgments of some of the limitations of the
research.
2.1. ResearchDesign:Casestudyapproach
This research will utilise the case study approach for its methodology. It is
described as “an empirical inquiry about a contemporary phenomenon (e.g., a
“case”),setwithin itsreal-worldcontext,especiallywhentheboundariesbetween
phenomenaandcontextarenotclearlyevident”(Yin2009,p.18)Theuseof the
casestudyapproachwasdrivenbytheneedtodeeplyconcentrateonaspecific
phenomenon within a specific community. For this research, an exploratory
methodwill be used as the need to concentrate on a specific phenomena and
howitoccurred.Thisapproachallowsforanin-depthandextensivedescription
ofhowthephenomenonofpublicparticipationwascarriedoutwiththeuseofa
contemporary example. The methodology allows for the research to retain
characteristics of real life context,which arebothholistic andmeaningful (Yin
2009). This is desirable when researching participation, as it requires more
insightfulexplanationsofindividuals’experiences.
2.1.1. Casestudy:ARepresentativecase
TheLisheenWindFarmcasewillbearepresentativecasestudy.Theeventsof
the development began in 2006 when the initial scoping report was
commissionedandduetothetwodifferentphasesofthedevelopmentlastedup
until the final turbineswhere erected in 2013. The case can be considered as
representativeasitdisplaysnumerouscommonfactorsthatarepresentinwind
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farmdevelopmentintheRepublicofIreland.Firstlythewindfarmislocatedina
sparselypopulatedruralarea,likethemajorityofonshorewindfarmsdeveloped
in theRepublic of Ireland. The case is culturally and socially representative of
rural Ireland and can represent how communitieswith no prior experience of
windturbinescanreacttotheirdevelopment.Theproject’slocation,population
andtheabsenceofhistoricalwindfarmsintheareaarerepresentativeofother
windfarmsindevelopmentacrosstheRepublicofIreland.Thusthiscasehasthe
potential to show issues, which are similar for other EIA processes currently
beingundertaken.
2.1.2. Sampling
Thisresearchbeganwithpurposivesampling,whichallowedfortheselectionof
individuals who have had first hand experience of participation within the
LisheenWindFarmcase study.However thiswas thensupplementedwith the
useofthesnowballsamplingtechnique.Asthewindfarmisbasedinaveryrural
setting and occurred a few years ago, getting in contact with the affected
communitieswasquiteaneffort.
Thesnowballprocessallowedagreaterdegreeofacceptancewhenconducting
research in a tightly knit community such as Templetuohy and Moyne. Other
participantswereonlyfoundoncethefirstcontactdiscoveredaconnectiontoan
actual participant. Using this non-probability sampling approach would be
construedbymanyaslessscientific;however,inlightofthecontextofthestudy
and thedifficultlyreaching theparticipants, itwas themostpractical sampling
approachtotake.
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2.2. DataCollectionTechniques
2.2.1. Interviews
Decidingontheinterviewstructuretobeusedintheresearchwaschallenging.
Asthisstudyanalysedthesamesetofin-depthinterviewsintwodifferentways,
aninterviewingstructurethatwouldbestaccommodatebothanalysismethods
was required. Phenomenological methods suggest a non-structured interview
procedure, however, traditional qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews can
workbetterwithastructure,ifonlytopreventinterviewsubjectswanderingtoo
farofftopic.Qualitativeinterviewing,usingsemi-structuredquestions,isbuilton
using open-ended questions that aim at encouraging meaningful responses
(Patton1990).Theresearcher, therefore, isallowedtoexplorenewavenuesof
questioning when they arise, preventing the possibility of shutting down any
illuminatinglineofquestioning.Theinterviewsthushadaroughlimitednumber
ofpre-arrangedquestionswhoseorderanduseweredecidedupondepending
on theebband flowof thediscussion.The interviewguide for thesequestions
canbefoundinAppendix1.Differentfollow-upquestionswerealsoaskedbutdo
notappearontheguide.
The pre-arranged questions were guided, firstly, by the need for experienced
basedquestioningofthesubjects’participationintheEIA.Theresearchquestion
ontheAarhusConventionalsohelpedtostructuretheinterviewsastopics,such
as access to information, access to justice and access to decision making
processes. The four in-depth interviews were conducted on-site in the
participants’ own homes which helped to maintain an informal feeling to the
interviewingprocess.Thisgreatlyhelpedinuncoveringdataonpersonalviews
andcontentionstopics,suchaswindturbinedevelopments.
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2.2.2. Documentstudy
The documents used in this research complement the primary qualitative
methodsused.Thedatacollection/selectionwastakenfromonlinegovernment
sourcesandthroughprimarydocumentsreceivedfromoneoftheinterviewees.
As the documents’ primary role is to help in the triangulation of the data, the
numberofrelevantdocumentscollectedandanalysedwaslimited.Awiderange
ofdifferentdocumentswereutilisedforthisthesis,including:
• planningapplications,
• EnvironmentalImpactStatements(EIS),
• ScopingReport,and
• submissions/objectionletters.
2.2.3. Bracketing
Bracketingisaqualitativemethodwithphenomenologicalorigins.Itisusedfor
mitigatingthepotentiallyadverseeffectsofpreconceptions,whichmightweaken
theresearchprocess.Bybeingexplicitabouthowtheresearcherviewstheworld
and bracketing these preconceptions, the researcher is better equipped to
describeinterviewees’experiences.Theentireresearchprocessisthenrootedin
the topicathand. (Tufford2010).Thismethodwill alsobeapplied in thedata
analysisprocess.
2.3. ApproachtoDataAnalysis
For this thesis, two analyses have been undertaken with the use of in depth
interviewmaterialandrelevantdocuments.Thefirstanalysiswillfocusonhow
thepublicparticipationwithintheEIAprocesswasconductedbyexploringthe
roleof theAarhusConvention.Byassessing theAarhusConvention itnotonly
reveals the setting and circumstances of the public participation, but also
facilitatesacritiqueofpublicparticipationinIrishEIAs.Thesecondpartofthe
analysiswillhaveadeeperfocusonhowthesubjectswereinvolvedinthepublic
22
participationbyconcentratingonhowtheyactuallyexperiencethephenomenon
ofparticipation.Byutilisingphenomenologicalanalysis,thesecondanalysiswill
bemoredescriptiveinnatureasitaimstodevelopameaningfulrepresentation
ofthelivedexperienceofpublicparticipation.Thefindingsofthetwodifferent
analyseswerethencombinedandasynthesisoftheresultswillbecreatedwith
the intention of the findings being used to strengthen the practice of public
participationinEIA.
2.3.1 Analysis1:PublicParticipationandtheAarhusConvention
The analysis of the empirical data began by exploring how the public
participation within the EIA was conducted. This will be achieved through
analysingtheextenttowhichtheAarhusConventionsthreepillarswereevident
in the public participation. Following the full transcription of the in-depth
interviews,abroadcodingoftheinterviewswasconductedwhichservedtogive
theresearcherastructuredoverviewofthedata.
The four interviews were then tested by four different practice criteria that
aimed to assess how thepublic participationwas conducted and the extent to
whichtheAarhusConvention’smainprincipleswereadheredto.Theinterview
datawasalsocomplementedbyrelevantdocumentaryevidence,whichwillalso
provideaformoftriangulationofthedata.
Thesepracticecriteriawerederivedfromacombinationofdifferentcriteriafor
evaluating EIA systems by Petts (1999) and Hartley & Woods (2005). The
practicecriteriawhichdidnotfitwiththescopeofthisstudywerenotincluded
in the analysis. The criteria thatwere chosen are intended to assess the three
pillars of the Aarhus Convention within the case namely; access to
environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-
makingandaccesstojustice.Theformulationofthepracticeevaluationcriteria
andtherelatedAarhusConventionprincipalswillbe furtherelaborateupon in
thechapter5.Alsothequalityofthethreepillarsandtheimpactontheresults
stemmingfromthechosenpracticecriteriawillbediscussedinchapter7.
23
Thecriteriachosen:
• Accessibility and information provision – that the public can obtain
informative materials and are informed as to the nature of the
developmentanddecisionmakingprocess.
• Communication and interaction – Have practical steps (locating
concerned public, planning (including timing of meetings, public
transportation availability and approachability of information) been
taken to allow thepublic to participate?Did the techniques used allow
stakeholderstocontributetothediscussiononthedevelopment?
• Opennessandclarityoflegalprovisions-Werethereopportunitiesfor
public participation, including access to submitting inquires/objections
inwritingorapublichearingreview?Weredecisionsarticulatedtothe
community?Didtheydemonstrateanunderstandingoftheirlegalrights
andhaveaccesstothem.
• Influence – Did the concerns brought forward during the participation
process influence the final decision on the granting of planning
permission?
2.3.2. Analysis2:Phenomenological
Moustakas’s (1994) writing on phenomenological research methods provides
theguidelinesforconductingthisanalysis.Itwillbeemployedtodescribehow
the participants conceptualise their lived experience of participating in the
LisheenWind Farm developments EIA process. Upon reviewing the literature
associated with participation in EIAs, it can be argued phenomenological
methodsareunderutilised.Phenomenologycanbroadlybedefinedasamethod
that “aims to describe, understand and interpret themeanings of experiences of
human life” (Bloor & Wood 2006, p. 3). It should be noted that there is a
distinction between phenomenology as a school of philosophical thought, and
24
phenomenological methods, which is an approach to research. The use of
phenomenologicalmethodscanhelptoshedlightonhowindividualsexperience
participation and thusmay lead to new andmore substantive approaches for
environmentalplannersandpolicymakers.Itcouldevenaidindevelopingmore
judiciousdecision-makingprocesses:“Thereisarecognitionthatphenomenology
ishumanist.Thus, objects external to thehumanbodyarenotdivorced from the
cognitionofthosepeoplewhoinvesttheseobjectswithmeaning”(Wilson&Slack
1989).
With this in mind this research perspective is useful in identifying how
individuals conceptualise their lived environment. This could be useful with
regard to thewind turbine debate, which has predominately revolved around
negativeaspectssuchasaestheticissuesandimpactonqualityoflifefromnoise
ontheenvironmentinwhichpeoplelive(Devine2005).Byconcentratingonthe
participants’ intersubjectivity phenomenological methods can establish new
outlooksonpublicparticipationthatotherstudiesmaynot.Thesubjectmatter
ofthisstudywillbecentredontheexperienceofparticipatingwithinacaseofan
Irish EIA. The in-depth interviews that were conducted are fundamental in
creatingadescriptionoftheexperiencesthatwerelivedthrough.
In utilising Moustakas’s methods (1994:122) this analysis has a step-by-step
approach fororganising andanalysingdata.Moustakas’s approach isbasedon
Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology and is a modification of the Stevick
(1971), Colaizzi (1973) and Keen (1975) approach. The analysis will use a
slightlyalteredversionofthisapproach,limitingitsscopeandchanginghowthe
compositedescriptionofthephenomenaofparticipationwillbedisplayed.
ThefollowingstepshavebeentakingfromMoustakas(1994),fromtheverbatim
transcriptoftheparticipants:
• Every statement by the participants is considered as possessing equal
value(Horizonalization)andbracketingoccurs.
25
• Eachstatementisconsideredinrespecttoitssignificancefordescription
oftheexperience.
• Allrelevantstatementshavebeenrecordedandthenon-repetitive,non-
overlappingstatementshavebeentakenout.
• Thisleaveswhatiscalledtheinvarianthorizonsoftheexperience.
• Theseinvarianthorizonalstatementswillthenbealteredandreducedby
cutting the word count through replacing the vocabulary with
comparableterms(SeeAppendix,11.2).Eachofthesealteredstatements
will then be organised into a descriptive account of each of the
participants’experience.
• Finally the invariant horizons from each of the interviewees will be
clusteredtogetherintothemesandusedtoformacompositedescription
ofthephenomenaofparticipationinthecase.
Horizonalization is the process of taking every statement made by the
participantandtreatingitwithequalvalue.Thisaidsincreatingwhatiscalleda
‘horizon’ –byutilising themetaphorof ahorizon it describes aperspectiveor
way of viewing the world. These horizons are limitless, as one can never
completely exhaust their experience of a phenomenon. It alters as one
reconsiders them or views them. “Each horizon, as it comes into our conscious
experience, is groundingor conditionof thephenomenon that gives it distinctive
character” (Moustakas 1994, p. 95) Thus horizonalization provides the
foundations of understanding phenomena through a person’s conscious
experiencesoftheir‘horizon’.Thismethodalsoinvolvesreducingthenumberof
words and replacing vocabulary with similar expressions. This process is
continueduntilamoresuccinctandbeneficialunderstandingoftheexperienceis
formedforeachoftheparticipants.Afterthisprocessiscompletethesearenow
known as invariant horizonal statements which will be reorganised to give a
descriptiveaccountofeachperson’sexperienceofparticipation.
26
What follows will be an amalgamation, descriptively and thematically, of the
invarianthorizonalstatementsofeachofthedescriptionsoftheparticipants.It
will begin with the clustering the invariant horizonal statements from the
individual descriptions and placing them into more manageable common
themes. These themes will help elucidate and distil the individual horizonal
statements down into a more universal description of the experience of
participation in thecase (Moustakas1994).Thisnewthematicdescriptionwill
intendtogenerateadeeperunderstandingofthephenomenonofparticipation.
2.4. LimitationsThefollowingsectiondescribessomeofthelimitationsresultingfromthechoice
ofusingthisspecificresearchdesignandresearchmethods.Theeffectsofusing
a single case study will be discussed along with a note on the use of
phenomenologicalmethodsintheanalysis.
2.4.2. Generalizabilityfromasinglecase
The choice of using a single case design over amultiple-case design could be
perceived by some as a limitation to the generalizability of this research. One
couldarguethatitcouldbenefitfromhavingmultipledifferentcasestocompare
andcontrastthefindingstoenhancethegeneralizability.However,asthissingle
case study is a representative case, the objective is to capture a commonplace
situationtorepresentwhatthetypicalEIAparticipationanddevelopmentofan
onshorewind farmwould be in Ireland. Thiswill then be used to display the
experiencesoftheaverageindividualinthisspecificcontext(Yin2009).Thusthe
needformultipledifferentcasesisdiminished,astheaimwillbeachievedfrom
the use of the single case design. Thus hopefully, the case will illuminate
somethinggenerallyfoundwithinIrishEIAsuseofpublicparticipationandadd
tothecurrentdiscourseonitsuse.
27
2.3.2. LimitedPhenomenologicalanalysis
Thisstudywillnotbeconductingacompletephenomenologicalanalysis.There
are two reasons for this. Firstly, the aim of the research is broader than just
describingthephenomenaofpublicparticipationinIrishEIAs.Inotherresearch
theuseofphenomenologicalanalysisisonlytoproducethisdescriptiveaccount
ofthephenomena.Asthescopeofthisthesisisbroaderthanthis,thereislessof
a need for a textual composite description. Instead, themeswill be utilised to
presentthecombinedexperienceofthephenomena.Secondly,conductingafull
phenomenological inquiry would require more time and resources than was
neededtoincorporatetheentirescopeofthestudy.
28
3. TheoreticalFramework
This chapterwill elaborateon the theoretical framework thatwillbuttress the
analysis and will predominately be utilised in the discussion section of the
findingsofthecasestudy.Beingconcernedwiththeexperienceandpracticeof
participationwithinIrishEIAs,andhavingtheorywhichexplainstheprocessin
which humans create meaning is advantageous to answering this study’s
research question. Startingwith a description of some of the central points of
Berger and Luckmann’s ‘The Social Construction of Reality’, first published in
1966,thisworkisseenasaseminalpieceinthesociologicaldisciplineandwas
influenced by the work of Alfred Schütz. Berger and Luckmann’s (1966)
succeededincreatinganewdefinitionofthesociologyofknowledge.Theirwork
wasthefirsttocointheterm‘socialconstruction’withinthesocialsciences. A
sectionwillfollowexaminingtheroleofconceptoftheLife-world;thetakenfor
granted, pre-scientific, experientially given world. This concept anchors
Luckmann’stheoryandwillhopefullyinsulateit fromthecommonweaknesses
ofinterpretivism.
3.1. TheSocialConstructionofReality
BergerandLuckmann’sworkonthesociologyofknowledgeisoneofthemost
cited social works used today. It provided a new, more approachable way of
viewinghow,associalactors,weperceivereality.Itcanbedescribedasbeinga
process inwhichindividualscontinuouslydevelopasharedrealitywithintheir
sharedactionsandinteractionsthatisqualifiedasbeingobjectivelyaccurateand
subjectivelyimportant(Berger1991).Thetheoryarguesthatthesocialworldis
not simply given to us; it is not a natural occurrence. It is not even fully
determined.Individualscreateitandtransmitit.Whatwehavenotlearnedfrom
ourselvesthroughourownsenseswehavelearneddirectlyfromothers.95%of
whatweknowwejustacceptfromwhatothershavetoldus.Evenwhatourown
intuition tells us is highly shaped by others. Therefore, the social world is an
alterableworld,unlikesaythenaturalworld.
29
Externalisationistheprocesswherebyindividuals,bytheirownhumanactivity
createtheirsocialworlds.Takethephysicalenvironment forexample;humans
did not create it, it is naturally occurring. However, the social environment in
whichweoperate,thecultureinwhichweliveisproducedbyhumanbeings.We
imposeorderonthingsthroughaprocessofhabitualization,“Allhumanactivity
is subject to habitualization” (Berger 1991, p. 70). The day-to-day habits that
become useful in handling recurring circumstances are soon repeated
automatically.Thesehabitsareespeciallyusefulinintersubjectivityofsociallife
as the habits become predictable and eventually dependable upon. Thus
membersofthesamecommunityadoptthesehabitualbehavioursandovertime
theybecomepartofaninstitutioninsteadofahabitofauniqueindividual.
Berger andLuckmannname themanner inwhichhabitualbehavioursbecome
institutionsas institutionalization. “Thetypificationsofhabitualizedactionsthat
constituteinstitutionsarealwayssharedones.Theyareavailabletoallmembersof
theparticularsocialgroupinquestionandtheinstitutionitselftypifiesindividual
actorsaswellas individualactions” (Berger1991, p. 72). Law is an exampleof
institution;individualsinlegalinstitutionshavespecificrolesandfollowspecific
set of habitual rules. Legal institutions postulate if an action is right orwrong
and the circumstances inwhichpunishment is dealt.With thepassingof time,
tradition and history these institutions passed down from generation to
generation cause the institution to become reified. They harden as it becomes
more and more legitimised by its own continued presence to the point that
societyforgetsthatitwastheinstitutionwasasocialconstruction.
Berger andLuckmann’swork is an appealing takeon the structureof howwe
perceive the social world it does however, suffer from some criticism as all
theories do. Berger and Luckmann (1991) are focused on the nature and
constructionofknowledgeandthisiswherethemaincriticismislevelledagainst
them,inthatthetheorycanbeconceptualisedasproposingrelativismandbeing
anti-realist (Endreß 2016). Searle critique (1995) follows along with the
majority of the social construction thesis however; he argues that there is an
external realism that exists outside of our representations of it. By giving an
30
alternative view to the notion that knowledge is a direct perception of reality,
this idea that thesocialworld isactuallyeachpersonpossessingsome formof
individualrealitydrawsacademiccriticismasitclaimsthatthereisnoabsolute
objectivereality.
3.2. TheLife-World
Attaching the concept of the Life-world to Berger and Luckmann’s Social
ConstructionofRealitycanaugmentthetheorytomakeitmoreeffectualforthis
study.EdmundHusserlintroducedtheconceptofthelife-world(Lebenswelt)in
his ‘The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology’
(1936).Husserl’s thoughts can be said to have profoundly impacted twentieth
century philosophy. One of Husserl’s claims, which is also a central claim in
phenomenology, isthat“theindividualsubjectqua(asbeing)world-experiencing
isdependentonotherworld-experiencingsubjects”(Zahavi2009,p.4).Thusthis
is exactly what the life-world suggests; you cannot be a world-experiencing
individualonyourownbutmustbepartofacommunityofworldexperiencing
people.
Therefore the life-world is the conventionalworldwe take for granted. It is a
form of “pre scientific, experientially givenworld thatwe are familiarwith and
nevercallintoquestion”(Zahavi2009,p.4).Itisthesystematicsense-foundation
forscience,asineventhemostexactscientifictheoriesrelyonthepre-scientific
evidencethat the life-worldproposes. It isapermanent foundationofmeaning
throughwhich the pursuit of knowledgemust be derived. Science utilised the
practical bodily and sensory formsof experience andhasoverlookedhow this
transcendencehasallowedfortheexperienceswhichcreateknowledge.Asone
designsanexperimentandwhenresultsareinterpretedanddiscussed,scientists
rely on their common life-world that they derive their common sense and
commonkindsofevidencefrom(Zahavi2009).
31
4. DescriptionofCaseStudy:LisheenWindFarmdevelopment,CountyTipperary,RepublicofIreland
Thefollowingchapterwillbeconcernedwiththedetaileddescriptionofthecase
studythatprovidesthefoundationoftheresearch.Thecasepresentationbegins
with a description of the geographical area, a brief breakdown of the current
windenergyproductioninthecaseareaandtheregulatoryaspectsaffectingthe
case. Following this a detailed explanation of the Lisheen Wind Farm
Development will be given including a description of the specific participants
and groups involved in the case. Figure 2 shows in dark green the location of
NorthCo.TipperaryonamapofIreland.
(Fig.2.MapoftheRepublicofIrelandandNorthCo.Tipperary,(CCBY-SA3.0)
Wikipedia,2016)
32
4.1. GeographicalCaseArea:TempletuohyandMoyneParish
LocatedinNorthCo.Tipperary,TempletuohyandMoyneisaveryrural,sparsely
populatedarea.ThelastcensushadthepopulationofNorthTipperaryat70,322,
howeverthevillageofTempletuohywasonlyrepresentativeof323andMoyne
accountedfor533outofthetotalpopulationforthecounty(CSO2011).Ontop
of this planning and political distinctions there are another territorial
distinctions in the case. The local community has a strong connection to the
churchandusethetraditionalRomanCatholicChurch’sparishborderstodefine
their community. This is represented in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
Cashel and Emly, which has its own geographical remit, encompassing both
Templemore and Moyne. It has a predominately low-lying topography with
fertile lands that are used for agricultural purposes. The site is spread across
varied land including a former zinc mine, peatlands and agricultural lands.
Specific wind farm development area is spread across a total area of 300
hectares(SWSNaturalResources2009).
Therewere otherwind farms operating inNorth Tipperarywhen the Lisheen
WindFarmwasdeveloped,however; theLisheenWindFarm turbines,withat
totalheightof150meters,madethemthelargestoftheirkindintheRepublicof
Ireland(AngloAmerican2006).
4.2. LisheenWindFarmDevelopment2006–2013
The wind farmwas established over a number of years and had two distinct
phases. There were a number of different energy companies involved in this
wind farm. For the purpose of this thesis only AALM Ltd will be used when
discussingthecompanieswhodevelopedandweretheprimaryinstigatorsofthe
public participation. The Lisheen Wind Farm had two distinct stages
development which came together resulting in 30 2-3 Megawatts (MW) wind
turbines on the site with a combined power of 60,000 kW (Anglo American
LisheenMiningLTD2007).InitiallyAALMLtdappliedforplanningpermissionto
erect22windturbines inandaroundthe locationof theLisheenMine in2006
33
(AngloAmerican2006).Itwasclassifiedasalarge-scalewindprojectunderIrish
standardsand thusrequiredEIAs tobeconductedprior to itsdevelopment.At
the time itwas the first large-scalewind turbine project in the area. Over the
course of the public participation a wealth of opinion was heard with some
positivevoicesandsomenegativevoices.Anoppositiongroupwasformedand
theplanningprocesstookitstimetodeliberateonthematter.Tobetterdescribe
theevents,thefollowingsectionswilldescribethetwodifferentphasesofwind
turbinedevelopment.
4.3. Phase1:Operationalin2009
Phase one resulted in the development of 18 turbineswith the capacity of 36
MW.TheinitialEIAscopingreportwascompiledandpublishedinMarch2006
(AngloAmerican2006).Itwasaroundthistimethatfirstcontactwasmadewith
thelocalresidenceinTempletuohyandMoyne.Thiswaswherethemajorityof
thepublicparticipationtookplaceastheturbineswerebuiltonboththeLisheen
Mine and State owned lands that encroached on housing. North Tipperary
CountyCouncil receivedplanningapplicationon the14/06/2006and the final
conditionaldecisionwasgivenin31/01/2007(AngloAmericanLisheenMining
LTD2007).Agroupthataimedtopreventthedevelopmentofthewindturbines
began a campaigning following its announcement. The planning process was
delayed but eventually the initial 18 wind turbines were given planning
permission. Soon after the granting of planning permission AALM Ltd began
anotherapplicationforanextensionofthewindfarm(TipperaryCountyCouncil
2009).
34
(Fig.3.“LisheenWindFarm”,Devane,D2015)
4.4. Phase2:Operationalin2013
Phase twowas an extensionof initial LisheenWindFarmdevelopmentwith a
further12turbineswithacapacityofafurther24MW.Unlikethefirstphaseit
was developed on predominantly private lands, which did not have road
frontage (Tipperary County Council 2009). Therewas less public participation
involved inthisphaseofdevelopmentasmostof themeetingsanddiscussions
occurred in private. With a successful EIA having already been carried out
previouslytheplanningprocessforthesecondphasehadmuchlessdelaysand
went through the planning process without any major objections (ibid).
TipperaryCountyCouncilreceivedplanningapplicationfortheextensiononthe
27/02/2009andthefinalconditionaldecisionwasgivenin26/08/2009(ibid).
Following the development of the Lisheen Wind Farm, local governments
adoptednewplanningproceduresinlightofthiscase(Hogan2015).Beingthe
first major wind farm development in North Tipperary the public authorities
were very interested in how it progressed. The public authorities were
35
impressedwith themonetaryconcessions that thepublicwereabout toderive
fromAALMLtd(ibid).
(Fig.4.OperationalLisheenwindturbines,Devane,D.2015)
4.5. Regulatoryaspects
Numerous different national and supranational regulations impacted the case,
howeveronlyafewareofcentralimportancetothisresearch.IntheRepublicof
IrelandanEIAisonlyamandatoryprocedurewhenawindfarmhasinexcessof
5 turbines, has a max output greater then 5 MW (Department of the
Enviornment2006)orwhenaprojectisconsideredashavingsignificanteffects
ontheenvironmentasnotedintheEUEIADirective85/337/EEC(Councilofthe
36
EuropeanUnion1985).Asthefirstphaseofthedevelopmentwouldinvolvethe
developmentof18windturbinesaEIAwasautomaticallyrequiredaspartofthe
planningapplication.
Inregardstothepublicauthoritiesinvolvedinthecase,NorthTipperaryCounty
Council andAnBord Pleanála (Irish PlanningBoard)were responsible for the
planning and appeals processes. AALM Ltd had to abide by other regulations
suchasthesitenoticemustremaininplaceforatleast5weeksfromthedateof
receipt of the planning application. The public is also bound by the rules in
regardstosubmissionsandobservationsthatmustbesubmittedwithin5weeks
ofthedateoftheplanningapplication(PublicServiceInformation2015).
The Lisheen Wind Farm also had to follow the ‘Wind Energy Development
Guidelines’ set out by the Department of the Environment. Out of these
guidelines the most important and contentions stipulations are the minimum
setback distances for the turbines. This is the distance the turbines should be
placed in relation tooccupied residentialdwellingswith theaim to reduce the
effectsofshadowflicker,noiseetc.Thecurrentsetbackdistanceintheguidelines
from 2006 is 500meters, although, these have been under review since 2013
withconsecutivedelaysinthepublicationofthenewguidelines(Departmentof
theEnviornment2006).
FinallyaspreviouslynotedtheapplicationoftheAarhusConventioninthiscase
isnotstraightforward.Thiscaseoccurredduringtheperiodoftimeinwhichthe
conventionwasbeingtransposedintoIrishLaw,duringthelongperiodbetween
its signing and its ratification into Irish Law.Officially it has only entered into
force completely in June2012 following, the implementationanumberofnew
legislativeprovisionsincluding;
• European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment)
Regulations 2007-2011 – adding further access to environmental
37
information including a request system to the Irish Government’s
DepartmentofEnvironment(GovernmentofIreland2007).
• Numerous pieces of legislation were used to transpose the Directive
2003/35/EC on Public Participation to bring Irish law governing
environmental consent and planning into line (Department of the
Environment2016).
• Environment (MiscellaneousProvisions)Act2011,which added judicial
notice to be taken for the convention (Department of the Environment
2011).
However, itmustbenoted thatmanyof theprincipalsof the conventionwere
already adopted or were in the process of being adopting by the Irish public
authoritiesthroughoutthetimelineofthecase.
4.6. Participantsandothergroups
Thissectionwillreviewthefourdifferentparticipantsthatwereinterviewedas
partoftheresearchofthecase. Itwillalsoconcentrateonthedifferentgroups
thatwerepresentinthecaseandrequiresomeelaborationinordertofacilitate
thedata analysis. It shouldbenoted that finding the appropriate interviewees
was initiallydifficultasmanymembersof the localityhadbeenaroundduring
thedevelopment,butneveractuallyactivelyparticipated.
4.6.1. MrTimBergin
Mr Tim Bergin was the first participant whowas interviewed for thismaster
thesis.Firstcontactwasmadethroughtheinitialresearchintowhoparticipated
intheLisheenWindFarmcase.MrBergin isa localresident inhismidthirties
fromTempletuohyCo.Tipperary,currentChairmanoftheParishForumandwas
aformeremployeeofAALMLtd.Hedoesnothaveafamilyanddefineshimselfas
havingworked in theenergysector formanyyears.Beforeworking inLisheen
38
MineheworkedinBordNaMóna(naturalresourceenergycompany).Heisalso
activewithinotherlocalcommunitygroups.
4.6.2. MrRichardDaly
The first intervieweesourced thecontactdetails forMrRichardDalywhowas
knowntoalsohaveparticipatedinthepublicparticipation.Inhislatethirtieshe
isa local farmerand landowner inMoyne,Co.Tipperary. In the firstphasehe
was one of the leaders of the Moyne Templetuohy Community Action Group,
acting as their treasurer during the planning phases of the development
(Submissions/Objections 2006). However, later he ended up renting land in
closeproximitytothefamilyhousefortheconstructionof5windturbinesinthe
secondphaseof thedevelopment.Hewasalsoandstill isanactivememberof
the Parish Forum. He lives and works on the farm with his wife and two
children.
4.6.3. MrPaddyDoyle
MrDalypassedonthecontactdetailsthenextparticipantandlocalresidentMr
Paddy Doyle. Mr Doyle is his 50s and works as a local teacher in the
Templetuohy Moyne area in Co. Tipperary. His profession is that of a public
teacher of a secondary (high) school. He is also the Chairperson of Moyne
Athletics Club,member of a local historical society andmember of the ‘Parish
Forum’.Mr Doylewas active in the initial public participation during the first
phaseofthedevelopmentandwitnessedhowthecommunityfundwasutilised
intheclubshewasinvolvedwith.
4.6.4. Cllr.JohnHogan
The finalparticipant thatwas interviewedwasCllr. JohnHoganaCahaoirleach
(Councillor) from the Irish political party Fianna Fáil. He is the only elected
political representative for the Templetuohy/Moyne area. He lives with his
39
familyjustoutsideofTempletuohy.Heplayedaninstrumentalroleinhelpingto
organise parts of the public participation with AALM Ltd and the public
authorities. As an acting public representative he had many important
interactions with different stakeholders while also engaging in all the regular
publicparticipationevents.HewasamemberoftheParishForumandhisfamily
livesoutsideoftheTempletuohyandMoynearea.
4.7. AngloAmericanLisheenMiningLtdandSWSEnergy
AALMLtdwastheoriginalownersofaZincminewhoseproductionlevelswere
dropping.AALMLtdsoondevelopedthe ideaofusingtheadjacent landowned
by themine to develop awind farm. Themine began operations in 1999 and
employedupto400peopleinthelocality.AALMbegantheplanningprocessin
2006 and a larger company specialising in harnessing renewables called SWS
EnergyfromCo.Cork,Irelandtookoverthebusiness.SWSfinishedofftheendof
the planning process, which included the final EIS. However, it is also worth
noting that after the first phase of the development was complete another
companycalledBordGáisEnergyboughtSWSEnergyLtd.CurrentlytheLisheen
WindFarmisbeingoperatedbyBordGáisEnergy(O'Mahony2009).
4.7.1. ParishForum
The Parish Forum was initially instigated by AALM Ltd as part of the public
participationthattookplacepriortotheconstructionoftheLisheenWindFarm.
ItoriginallydidnotgobytheParishForumnameasitwascomprisedofonlya
fewworkersfromtheminewhowereinformedthattheminewasintendingon
developingawindfarmonthesiteofthemineandadjacentlands.Whenplans
movedforwardthegroupwasexpandedtorepresenttherestofthecommunity.
Thisinvolvednominatinguptosixteenmembersofthecommunitytorepresent
thewholeinfutureparticipatorydiscussionsandmeetings.
40
4.7.2. MoyneTempletuohyCommunityActionGroup
Followingtheannouncementof theproposed22windturbinesfortheLisheen
Wind Farm development, an action group began to develop with concerned
membersofthecommunitythatdidnotwantthewindfarmtobedevelopedin
theTempletuohy/Moynelocality.Theirmissionstatementstated,“Topreventthe
proposed Development of a wind farm in Barna, Lisheen, Cooleeney, Derryfadda
andKilloran” (Moyne Templetuohy Community Action Group 2006, p. 1). This
groupalsostatedthatactionstakeninvolvedthesubmissionof65objectionsto
windfarmandthattheyorganisedtheirownpublicmeetingforthepublicwho
wereopposedto thewind farmon2/8/06.Theyalsoclaimitwasattendedby
120 people and nine local political representatives (Moyne Templetuohy
CommunityActionGroup2006).
41
5. CaseStudyFindings:Part1.PublicParticipationandtheAarhusConvention-Description,AnalysisandResults
ThischapterisconcernedwiththefirstanalysisoftheLisheenWindFarmcase
studyasdescribedinthemethodssection.Beforethephenomenologicalanalysis
concentrateson theexperienceofparticipation inEIA it isessential toprovide
anunderstandingofpracticalitiesofhowthepublicparticipationwasconducted.
The analysiswill achieve this by exploring the public participation in the case
through assessing its adherence to the Aarhus Convention. In order to begin,
Table1,will illustrate themost relevantAarhusConventionprinciplesand the
correspondingpracticeevaluationcriteriathatwillbeusedtoanalysethem.The
practice criteria were derived from an amalgamation of different criteria for
evaluating EIA systems from theworks of Petts (1999) and Hartley &Woods
(2005)asmentionedinchaptertwo.
5.1. GeneralBracketing
Throughouttheinterviewingandanalysisprocessthepracticeofbracketingwas
utilised.ThefirstbracketedissuewasthefactthatasaresearcherIhavespent
themajorityofmylifelivinginurbanpopulations.Theintervieweescomefrom
rural areas with different cultural and social understandings. This bracketing
issue is somewhatmitigated by the fact that I have relations living in an area
closeby.Howeverthisexperiencemustalsobebracketedasitmayalsoimpinge
on the research. Also as a researcher I must be aware of the possible
presumptions having come from academic pursuits in environmental sciences.
The interviewees come from a culture that still exploits one of the most CO2
intensivefuelsontheplanet,theburningofpeatlands(turf).Anypresumptions
as to the interviewee’s environmental credentials must also be bracketed. By
bracketing off these presumptions the researcher is allowed to concentrate of
thephenomenoninamoreunbiasedform.
42
5.1.1. InterviewSpecificBracketing:MrTimBergin
Upon researching for suitable case studies it became clear thatMrBergin had
appeared in a promotional video in favour of the Lisheen Wind Farm. The
presumptionwasthathehadpro–windturbineleanings.
5.1.2. InterviewSpecificBracketing:MrRichardDaly
Astheresearchprogressednewinformationcomestolight,whichcreatednew
presumptions that had not existed before. In the case of Mr Richard Daly, it
became known that he was part of an anti-wind farm group which initially
challenged thedevelopmentof theLisheenWindFarm.Thisknowledgehad to
be bracketed out in order to prevent it affecting the outcomeof the interview
andphenomenologicalanalysis.
5.1.3. InterviewSpecificBracketing:MrPaddyDoyle
InMrPaddyDoyle’scasetherewasnospecificbracketingusedfortheinterview
ortheanalysisapartfortheonesmentionedinthegeneralbracketingsection.
5.1.4. InterviewSpecificBracketing:MrJohnHogan
JohnHogan isanelectedcountycouncilofficialandmemberof theFiannaFáil
political party. The political ideological presumptions that relate to his
connectiontothatpoliticalpartymustbebracketedout.
5.2. TheAarhusprinciplesintheLisheenWindFarm
Thissectionanalysestheextenttowhicheachofthepracticeevaluationcriteria
can be viewed as having been fulfilled in the case study of the LisheenWind
Farm. The procedure of public participation will be discussed by utilising the
opinionsoftheintervieweestodeterminetowhatextentthethreepillarsofthe
Aarhus Conventions were evident. The in-depth interviews will provide the
foundation for the analysis however; thiswill be complemented by additional
informationfromrelevantdocumentationonthecase.
43
Table 1: Formulation of the Aarhus Convention and the corresponding Practice
EvaluationCriteria
AarhusConventionPrinciples:
(UNECE1998)
(EuropeanCommission2003)
PracticeEvaluationCriteria
• Thepublicconcernedshallbe
informed,bypublicnoticesorother
appropriatemeans,ofenvironmental
decision-makingproceduresassoon
astheinformationcanreasonablybe
provided…(Article6(2))
• Informationonwhichauthoritiesand
whenandwheresuchinformationwill
beavailable(Article6(2))
• Public participation procedures will
ensure that reasonable time frames
are set to allow for sufficient time for
informingthepublic…(Article6(3))
• Accessibility and information
provision – the public can obtain
informative materials and are
informed as to the nature of the
development and decision making
process.
• “The public concerned shall be given
early and effective opportunities to
participate in the environmental
decision-making procedures referred
to in Article 2(2) and shall, for that
purpose, be entitled to express
comments and opinions when all
options are open to the competent
authority or authorities before the
decision on the request for
development consent is taken.”
(EuropeanCommission2003,p.1)
• Each party shall ensure that identify
thepublicconcernedandestablishing
and maintaining practical
• Communication and interaction –
Have practical steps (locating
concernedpublic,planning(including
timing of meetings, public
transportation availability and
approachability of information) been
taken to allow the public to
participate? Did the techniques used
allow stakeholders to contribute to
thediscussiononthedevelopment?
44
arrangements with them in order to
enter into discussions and provide
information on the impacts and
objectivesoftheproject.(Article6(5))
• Each party shall strive to develop
effective public participation in an
appropriate way without prejudice
andtoallowforthepublictobegiven
the opportunity to comment. (Article
6(6))
• With the description of the
development site, technical
characteristics, expected emissions,
significant effects of the proposed
activityof theenvironment….(Article
6(6))
• Parties within the convention shall
ensure that persons who consider to
beignoredorwrongfullytreatedwith
will have access to a review
procedure before a court of law or
anotherindependentbody.(Article9)
• Openness and clarity of legal
provisions
Were there opportunities for public
participation that including access to
submitting inquires/objections in
writing or public hearing review?
Were decisions articulated to the
community?
Did the public demonstrate an
understanding of their legal rights
andhaveaccesstothem?
• Thepublicshallhavetheresultsofthe
public participation are taken into
account upon the final executive
decision.(Article6(8))
• Influence–Didtheconcernsbrought
forward during the participation
processinfluenceinthefinaldecision
on the granting of planning
permission?
45
5.2.1. AccessibilityandInformationprovision
Broadlyspeaking,stakeholdersfeltthatAALMLtdmadeaconsiderateeffortto
informthepublicastothenatureof thedevelopmentandthedecisionmaking
process.Thoughitwasalsodefinedasbeing“minimal.Itwasgoodbutitwasstill
minimal” (Appendix, p. 245). Predominantly the information provision was
presented during two informative open days were held in town halls of both
TempletuohyandMoyneonthe24/04/2006and25/04/2006(AngloAmerican
Lisheen Minning LTD 2006, p. 20). These were supplemented with the
establishment of a community groupknownas ‘ParishForum’, comprisedof a
representativemixofindividualsfromthelocalcommunity.Theopendaysand
establishment of the community groupwere noted by the interviewees as the
main sources of information provision. Following the completion of the EIS it
wasmadeavailableforviewinginLisheenMineLtdofficeswithcopiesavailable
for purchase at €45. No information was made available through placing
informativepostersorsignsinthelocalityanditwasnotpublicisedextensively
on any electronic sources. Despite these detractors the accessibility and
information provision practice criteria has been primarily fulfilled. Though in
regardstotheeffectivenessoftheinformationprovisionotherdeficiencieswere
evident.
ThepresenceoffinancialbarrierstoattainingacopyoftheEISclearlyreduced
theavailabilityofthisvitalinformation,asanymembersofthecommunityintent
onfilingsubmissionsandobjectionswouldneedtopayforitinordertomakea
stronger case to the local authorities.Anumberofobjections submitted to the
local planning authorities following the planning application in June 2006
brought up this very issue. Filing this written objection also required a
mandatory feeof€20 tobepaid toNorthTipperaryCountyCouncil.Added to
this, there were also a limited number of EIS copies available. This quickly
resultedinthecopiesbeingsoldout,leavingmembersofthecommunityunable
toreviewtheEIS.Uponrequeststoordermorecopiesthecommunitymembers
were told that they would not arrive until after the closing date for the
submissionofobjectionsonthe18/07/06(Submissions/Objections2006).This
46
brings the question as to what can be defined as a reasonable timeframe for
informing the public. Having the relevant information available prior to the
submissionsprocessisofkeyimportancetothepublic’sparticipationasawhole,
as the submissions mark a shift in public engagement from a more passive
positionofreceivinginformationtohavingtheiropinionsheardontheEISand
plans through the legally bound planning process. This was also not the only
barriertoinformationprovision.Elderlymembersofthecommunityfacedissues
whichthelocalCouncillorarticulatedclearly,
“someoftheresidentsthatwherearoundthosewindfarmsah:wouldbeinthere
80s.Wouldn’tbeable to travel togo tomeetings. So theymight see the signbut
theretotallyisolatedfromthattypeofthing.”(Appendix,p252)
Accordingtotheintervieweesnoattemptsweremadetoresolvetheissuewith
anyformofalternativeinformationprovision. ThelocalCountyCouncillorhad
spentaconsiderableamountoftimeworkingwithinthecommunityduringthe
publicparticipation.Asapossiblesolutiontotheseinformationprovisionissues,
headvocated for a copyof theplanningapplicationwithall theaccompanying
documents such as the EIS to be made available for viewing in the local
community centre.He said that hiswould result in “fullaccess”and “ifyoudid
thateverybodywouldcomedown.Everybody”(Appendix,p253).
There were also some discrepancies between the EIS documentation and
information coming from the interviewees. Within the studied EIS document,
whichisrequiredfortheapplication,itisclaimedthattheprojectconsultedthe
communityverywidelyintherunuptotheapplicationprocess.Itstipulatedthat
everyhouseintheimmediateareaoftheproposeddevelopmentreceivedcopies
ofthescopingreport(AngloAmericanLisheenMinningLTD2006).Basedonthe
intervieweeswholivedadjacenttothedevelopmenttheyhadnorecollectionof
havingreceivedanythingasdetailedasascopingreport.Thescopingreportwas
compiledinMarch2006andcontainedvitalinformationontheimpactssuchas
noiseemissions,visual impacts, impactonwildfowlandshadowflicker(Anglo
American 2006, p. 12). The scoping report was not available for the public
47
consumption.ItisatitisatthediscretionofAALMLtdtodecidewhentodisclose
thisinformationtothepublic.Inthiscasethescopingreportwasneverdisclosed
to thepublic. Theonly intervieweewhohadknowledgeof the scoping report
wasthelocalCountyCouncillorJohnHogan,whohadreceivedthereportprior
toanyoneduetohispoliticalpositionwithinthecommunity.Theavailabilityof
other forms of information such as negative media reports in relation to the
wind turbines and anti wind farm propaganda were noted by two of the
intervieweesasimpactingtheirviewsonthedevelopmenttoalargedegree.This
diluted themore relevant technical and development specific information that
wasbeingmadeavailabletothecommunity.
5.2.2. CommunicationandInteraction
“Istheinformationevenenoughtosayyouengagedwiththecommunityordothey
havetosetupacommittee?Idon’tknow”(Appendix,p201).
The quote above highlights some of the complexities and practical aspects of
publicparticipation,whichtheAarhusConventionattemptstogovern.AALMLtd
didmanagetolocateandcommunicatewiththepublicinaneffectivemanneras
theyutiliseditsgoodcommunicationlinkswiththelocalcommunity.Asof2006
thecompanywasstillrunningazincminingoperationthatemployedmembers
of the local community. TheAALMLtd initiated the Parish Forum they left its
structureandformationtobedesignedbythecommunityandthelocalCounty
CouncillorJohnHogan.
“we set up a Parish Forum to discuss thewhole thing and have a formal
parish structure for something like this coming in because it could have a
detrimentaleffectwedidn’tknowyou…Theproblemisignorance(.)anawfullotof
peoplehaven’taclue.Theythinkit’sgoingtodothemharm,buttheydon’treally
know”(Appendix,p240).
ThemembersoftheParishForumwereelectedataGeneralMeetingwithquitea
participatorydemocraticapproach.Allmembersofthecommunitywereableto
48
come together and nominate someone for a place on the forum.Up to sixteen
people who were put forward were chosen to represent the localities of
TempletuohyandMoyne.Attheinitialmeetingtheforumwasdescribedbyone
oftheintervieweesas,
“kind of just gradually grew the format of how it operates was kind of organic
reallyit(.)emergedasneedsbekindof”(Appendix,p232).
Throughthemediumoftheforumdecision-makingprocesseswereoutlinedand
issuesdiscussedsuchashealthconcerns,propertypricesandnoise/sunflicker
issues.Itscreationwasfollowedbyafieldtriporganisedbytheforumtoviewa
functioningwind farmCo.Cork and to engagewith residents that livedbeside
them(AngloAmericanLisheenMinningLTD2006).TheEISalsostipulatedthat
AALMLtdcarriedoutasimilarfieldtripwere26peoplevisitedawindfarmnear
Kilmuckeridge in Co. Wexford in 2006, however those interviewed had no
recollection of that trip (Anglo American LisheenMinning LTD 2006). Though
thecompanyinstigatedandfacilitatedtheseactionstheykepttheirdistanceand
took a hands off approach that reduced their interactionwith the community.
Thiswascriticisedbysomeoftheintervieweesasonestatedthat
“itbecameathemandusratherthen,well let’s justdothis foreverybody,you’re
goingtogainoutofitandwe'regoingtogainoutofit”(Appendix,p245).
IntheirperspectiveAALMLtdwasunambitiousinregardstotheParishForum,
astheydidnottaketheinitiativetomeetwithindividualobjectorsanddiscuss
theirconcerns,orasthelocalCountyCouncillorphrasedit“Talktothepeople,be
partofus”(Appendix,p245).
In regards to the approachability of the information provided for the lay
community,theopendayswerecomposedinsuchawaythatnoexpertisewas
needed in order to understand what was planned. The information meetings
weredescribedasshowingprojectwith,
49
“picturesandmontagesofit,aviewthatway(pointstotheleft)andshowingwhat
they’rephysicallygoingtosee.There’sgoingtobe”(Appendix,p195).
This interactive approach, coupled with the availability of non-technical
summaries of the EIS indicates that AALM Ltd attempted to make the
informationpresentedasunderstandableaspossible.Mostof the interviewees
feltthatAALMLtd’sengagementwiththecommunityhadbeen,
“quite open with..with…with the people at all stages of its own development, of
whatitwasdoingandwhatitintendedtodo”(Appendix,p233).
When it comes to gauging whether the criteria of communication and
interactionweremetinthecaseofLisheenWindFarm,thisanalysisdeemsthat
ithasbeenmet.ThepracticalarrangementsorganisedbyAALMLtddidfacilitate
publicparticipation,whichenabledmembersofthepublictoenterintoanopen
discussion on the topic. However, as shown it had its limitations by being
inflexibleandmissingopportunitiestofacilitatebettercommunicateduringthe
initialconsultationandthroughouttheplanningphase.
5.2.3. Opennessandclarityoflegalprovisions
The preceding practice criteria focused on the first and second pillars of the
Aarhus Convention; namely, access to information and public participation in
decisionmaking.Thiscriterionwillcontinueitsfocusonthesecondpillaraswell
as exploring the third and final pillar, that of access to justice. The openness
criteria cover what kind of transparency was apparent during the public
participation.WhatweretheopportunitiesgiventotheTempletuohyandMoyne
communitiestogainaccesstotheappropriatesubmissionsprocessforinquiries
andobjections?
It is clear from the interviews and relevant documentation that the public
participationdidgiveampleaccesstosubmittinginquires/objectionsinwriting.
This,however,hadlesstodowiththeactionsofAALMLtdandmoretodowith
50
the Irish planning permission process. The communitywas very active during
theplanningprocessasoneintervieweeputit
“therewascertainlyanawfullotofah::(.)questionsaskedthatneededtobeasked
andwhichwhereanswered”(Appendix,p213).
Following the application for planning permission for the first phases ofwind
turbines,members of public are given fiveweeks to submit an observation or
objectiontotheproposedplans.Withthepaymentofafeetheywouldalsohave
arighttomakeawrittenobservationorsubmissioninregardstotheapplication
(PublicServiceInformation2015).Atotalof66differentsubmissionswerefiled
duringthisperiod.Anamalgamationofobjectorscallingthemselvesthe‘Moyne
Templetuohy Community Action Group’ were behind the majority of these. A
documentproducedbythegroupstatedthatthey’reactionstodateinvolved65
submissionsofobjectiontothedevelopmentoftheLisheenWindFarm.(Moyne
TempletuohyCommunityActionGroup2006). Thisgroupplayedaprominent
role in the debate through out the public participation. They had a notable
presenceat themeetingsof theParishForumandtheirobjections/appealsdid
contributetothefinaloutcomeofthedevelopment.
Asahighlevelofengagementwasevidentintheobjectionsandappealsprocess
itisclearthatthepublicwereawareoftheirlegalrightsandmoreimportantly
had access to them under ‘S.I. No. 600/2001 Planning and Development
Regulations2001’.Thepublicsobjections/appealswerereceivedandreviewed
by the planning authorities and the local County Council. The online
documentationoftheLisheenWindFarmplanningapplicationshowsthisclearly
in the content of the Further information request as its contents reflect the
concernsbroughtupbythepublic(AngloAmericanLisheenMiningLTD2006c).
FollowingthistheCountyCouncilarticulatetheirdecisionstothecommunityin
an open and transparent manner through the publishing of the final decision
(AngloAmericanLisheenMiningLTD2007).Withallthedetractorsinmind,the
public participation saw ample opportunities for participants to make
submissions, articulated decisions to the community and the case displays
51
clearlythepublic’sunderstandingaswellasuseoftheirlegalrights.Thereforeit
isdeemedthattheOpennessandclarityoflegalprovisionspracticecriteriawas
fulfilled.
5.2.4. Influence
The second pillar of the Aarhus Convention concentrates on the right to
participateinenvironmentaldecision-making.Theparticipantshavetherightto
havetheircommentstakenintodueaccountinthedecision-makingprocess.As
revealed in the previous criteria, the LisheenWind Farm development caused
quiteareactionamongtheMoyneandTempletuohycommunities.Theyreadily
engaged in the public participation both during the initial EIA interaction and
followingalongtheplanning/objection/appealprocess.
All of the interviewees felt that the participation had been influenced the
decision-makingprocess insomewayanddocumentaryevidencesuggests that
the concerns of the public were carefully considered in the decision making
process.Specifically the influenceof thepublicparticipationwithin thiscase is
most noticeably seen in the amendments that altered the initial development
plansand throughrequests for further informationby theplanningauthorities
(AngloAmericanLisheenMiningLTD2007).
ThegreatestalterationtotheplanswastheamendmentthatforcedAALMLtdto
contributeanannualmonetarystipendforeachwindturbineconstructedforthe
betterment of the affected communities. The interviews and documentary
evidencepointstowardthelocalCountyCouncillorJohnHoganrole increating
thepossibility ofmonetarybenefits for the community through thewind farm
development. TheCouncillornotedthatthegeneralmanagerofAALMLtdwas
“a great man for corporate social responsibility” (Appendix, p241). His
discussionswiththeAALMLtd’smanagerwhohelpedmovedthemonetaryidea
forward.Butthisnotionwasunpopularduringtheplanningapplicationstageas
thelocalsvieweditasthe“localcouncillorputtingupthewhiteflag”(Appendix,
p241)andaccepting the turbines.The ‘MoyneTempletuohyCommunityAction
52
Group’ voiced the loudest opposition to this idea as theywere still organising
their opposition to thedevelopment.However this position gradually softened
and subsequentmeetings of the forum agreed to include a submissionwith a
request made for €50,000 per year for community projects
(Submissions/Objections2006).
Whentheplanningauthoritiesmadeafinaldecisionontheplanningapplication
itgrantedconditionalapproval.Theplanners“putitintotheconditionthatthey
give 30,000 per year indexed linked to the local community” (Appendix, p254).
Interestinglythedocumentationnotesthatthismoneywouldbeorganisedintoa
trustwhichwould be publicly accountable and last for 20 years following the
constructions of the turbines. Its structure was organised by local County
Councillors, AALMLtd and the Parish Forum.Amechanismwas decided upon
whereby the €30,000 invested in local capital projects of max 50% ratio of
stipend funding for any given project. The decisions as to what would be
acceptedwouldbemadeinadeliberativemannerthroughtheuseofthe‘Parish
Forum’ (North Tipperary County Council 2007). The importance of this
monetarycontributioninthelocalcommunitycannotbeunderstated.
“Ifwe didn’t get the contribution, you can talk about green energy but like, you
know,whocareswheretheyareproducinggreenenergy.Theydon’thavetobein
yourbackyard.Unlessthereisafinancialgainforacommunitythereisnobenefit
forthembeingthere.”(Appendix,p206)
The benefits accruing from the community stipend have resulted in a new
running track, redevelopment of the local Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)
sports pitch, and support for local community groups, among other
developments. All the interviewees acknowledged how beneficial the
development of the wind turbines in their communities had been, and some
mentionedhow theywill benefit generations to come. These financial benefits
coupledwith thesuccessof the firstdevelopmentmayhavecontributed to the
lackofoppositiontotheextensionoftheLisheenWindFarmin2013whichalso
broughtwithitanextra€20,000bringingthetotalstipendto€50,000.Asoneof
53
the intervieweeselaborated“Isupposeyoucansay,theyrealisedthebenefitand
theywerebenefitingfromit”(Appendix,p200).
Interviewees who had reservations about the development highlighted issues
suchasnoise,shadowflicker,propertydevaluation,healthconcernsandvisual
impacts. Upon reviewing the submissions/objections, other issues occurred,
such as telecommunication interruption and the protection of archaeological
siteswerehighlighted(Submissions/Objections2006).Theplanningauthorities
delayed granting AALM Ltd planning permission so that they could make a
request for further information. The request included 21 unsettled queries
raisedbytheplanningauthoritiesthatcontainednumerousissuesraisedduring
thepublicparticipation(AngloAmericanLisheenMiningLTD2006c).Requests
included proposals to ensure fixed noise levels around residential areas,
clarifications on issues of electromagnetic interference, further information on
possible shadow flicker issuesandanarchaeologicalassessment. In total there
were 23 scheduled conditions that the planners attached to the final planning
permissiondecision(NorthTipperaryCountyCouncil2006b).Theseconditions
show how the public participation was taken into account prior to the final
planningdecision(NorthTipperaryCountyCouncil2006b).
InDecember2006theyreturnedwithacomprehensiveresponsebyabidingby
the requests and allaying some of the fears raised through the public
participationprocess.AALMLtd alsoheld another informationmeetingon the
31stofAugust2006inwhich85localsattended,andmoreinformationsupplied
(AngloAmericanLisheenMiningLTD2006b).Asdescribedtheconcernsraised
duringthepublicparticipationweretakenintoaccountpriortothefinaldecision
thustheInfluencepracticecriteriawasfulfilled.
54
5.3. Subconclusion
To briefly sum up the first analysis of the case study findings some sub
conclusionscanalreadybemade.Partoftheresearchquestionwastoassess,to
what extent the participants had availed of the principals of the Aarhus
Convention. Through the use of the four practice criteria (Accessibility and
Informationprovision,CommunicationandInteraction,Opennessandclarityof
legalprovisions,Influence)ithasbeenshownthattheprimaryprincipalsofthe
AarhusConventionwerefulfilledintheLisheenWindFarmcase.Thehighlevel
of flexibility that the Aarhus Convention affords to it adherents allowed for
inadequaciestooccur inthecase,yetstillmanagesto fulfil itsprinciplesof the
practice criteria. The analysis of information provisions with its monetary
barriersandshortsupplyofcopiesoftheEISclearlydisplayedtheinadequacies
that can occur. However, the supply issues with the EIS copies may not only
showweaknessesintheAarhusConventionitcouldalsohavebeenadeliberate
choiceonthepartofAALMLtdtolimitthesupplyofinformation.Thesomewhat
limited interactionwith the participants also showed amissed opportunity to
develop a more collaborative relationship between AALM Ltd and the local
community.
Inregardstotheoverallinfluencethattheparticipationhadonthedevelopment
this analysis showed that it led directly to the community fund that is now
providing considerable monetary support to local infrastructure. This had a
significant effect on the community’s eventual acceptance of the development.
The analysis also proved that the participants did exert an influence on the
decision-making process as the issues that they raised were taken into due
account when the planning authorities deliberated on the case. The amended
conditionsthattheplannersattachedtotheplanningpermissionfortheLisheen
WindFarmshowhowtheinfluenceofthepublicparticipationmanifestedinthe
finaldevelopment.Thiscasealsoshowcasedtherobustaccessto justice,which
was demonstrated many objections, and appeals were processed through the
Irishplanningauthorities.
55
6. CaseStudyFindingsPart2:Phenomenologicalanalysisoftheindepthinterviews
Unlikethepreviousanalysisthismethodtakesquiteadifferentapproachtodata
analysis.Whatfollowsisamorehumancenteredapproachinwhichwetakethe
positionasamediatorbetweentheexperiencesandvoicesofthoseinterviewed.
The individual descriptions of experience are presented in a first person
perspective format. The same bracketing approach that was taken in the first
analysiswillbeutilisedagainasitisintrinsictophenomenologicalanalysis.This
approach iscalledgeneralbracketing.As the firststepof theanalysiseachand
everyhorizonalstatementisrecognisedashavingequalvalue,thisapproached
is calledhorizonalization.The horizonal statements are excerpted from the full
transcriptions of each of the in-depth interviews. Following this they went
throughtheprocessofphenomenologicalreduction.Indoingso,eachhorizonof
the research begins to develop a richer description of the experience of
participating in the EIA from the perspective of the participants. The
horizonalization and reduction of each of the participant’s statements can be
found in Appendix 10.3. What will be displayed in this section is the
amalgamationofeachoftheparticipant’sreducedhorizonalstatementsintoan
individualdescriptionoftheirexperienceofparticipation.
6.1. ReducedHorizonalDescriptionofMrTimBergin’sParticipationLegallyAALMLtdhadtoengagewiththecommunity.Theyformedacommunity
group to discuss the development of the turbines, initially to satisfy this legal
requirement,butexpandedittotackleotherissues.Iwasamemberatthatpoint
in2008andnowchairmanof thestill activeParishForum.The forum initially
comprisedofmineworkerswholaterwroteletterstolocalorganisationsasking
toattendtocreateacommunityforum.Theforumhasexistedeversince.Ona
personal level there was a keen interest in participating and maintain that
participation.Partly for thepossibilityofemploymentopportunitiesbut this is
doubtfulasthelocationissaturatedwithturbines.
56
They did host information evenings showing the development. They displayed
representativeimagesanddifferentperspectivesoftheproposedturbines.Inthe
earlystagesparticipationthefundingwasnotexplainedmuch.AALMLtdhasto
provideastipendfortheparish.Theengagementwasbeneficialbuthavingbeen
tothreedifferenttheinformationmeetings,theyareallquitesimilar.Yougoin
andseewheretheyaregoingandwhataffecttheyaregoingtohave.“There’snot
muchmore they can tell you really” (Appendix, p. 199). It was a condition of
planningthattheyhadtoengagebutitevolveddifferentlyindifferentareas.“Is
engaging with the community having an open evening and letting them know
aboutitandcanyousay,“rightwedidthisandsignedover”(Appendix,p.198).I
foundoutearlyastheminesapproachedmetojoin.
BeingveryactiveinthelocalityfromchurchtoGAAtheyallseethebenefitfrom
theturbines.Greenenergyasideifitwasnotforthefinancialgainfortheparish
thereisnobenefitfortheturbinesbeinghere.Theturbinescouldhavebeenseen
as the possibility of a job “eitherway they never botheredme like. You know I
think they’re elegant looking as opposed to intrusive. Tis down to everyone’s
opinionisn’tit.”(Appendix,p.209)
6.2. ReducedHorizonalDescriptionofMrRichardDaly’sParticipationTherewereoneortwopublicmeetingsthatfacilitateddiscussionofeveryone’s
views. As the community had limited previous experiencewithwind turbines,
therewerealotofquestions.“Sotherewasabitofah::Iwouldn’tsaynegativity
but therewascertainlyanawful lotofah:: (.)questionsasked thatneeded tobe
asked and which were answered” (Appendix, p. 213). Planning stipulated
engagementwithlocalswasdirectlyaffected.“Soitwassittingdownlikethisina
kitchenandweaskedthemthequestionlikeifyougetplanningpermissionforthe
18or22atthetimewilltherebeacapacitytoputupmore?”(Appendix,p.213).
The expansion was always going to happen. The locality was worried yeah.
Informationissoaccessibleandeasytoreadbadnewsstoriesof“windturbines
breakingorgoingonfireorwhatever likeyouknowwhatImean” (Appendix, p.
214).“Wewereherebeforetheturbinesandwewereherefortheconstructionof
57
turbinesandwe’rehereobviouslywhentheturbinesaregoing.“I’vethreechildren
anddoyouknowwhatImean” (Appendix,p.214). I’mnotgoingdoanythingto
puttheirhealthatrisk.
Therewas a change in acceptance for the secondphase after five years of the
first phase running. “Therewasmoreconcernsbecauseof theuncertaintyof the
unknown” (Appendix, p. 216). Only after seeing them in place and active you
realised that it was probably the unknown that was causing the hesitation.
“We’re living in a community andasbestwill in theworldwe’d like to get on
witheverybodyaswellaswecould,wedon’tliketoupsetpeople”(Appendix,p.
216).Wehadanotherfarmbutinfairnesswedeclinedtoputaturbineonthat
farmas itmighthave impactedtheneighbours. “Soweputupfiveturbineshere
and both neighbouring farmers put up one as well” (Appendix, p. 216). We
definitelyhadaroleindecisionsmadeontheground.Butanimpactstatement
onabadgersettcausedtheroadtobemovedfromwhereIwouldhavelikeditto
be. “but look it there’sbadgers thereweworkedaround itandthat’s it likeyeah
know.Soyeahlittlethinglikethattheywereverygoodlike”(Appendix,p.216).As
a farmer, thebuilding contractor “outofrespectyoucan’t justcomeinandroar
overandtellmewhattodo.”Therewasproperconsultationandinfairnessthey
worked with me. “Because of the 5 thatwere on this farmwewere able to jig
aroundthelayoutofthefields”(Appendix,p.215).
Therehavealwaysbeencommitteesherebutin“regardstomanagingthemoney
it obviously was set up because of the wind turbines” (Appendix, p. 220). I'm
actually on that committee it’s called the Parish Forum. I see how themoney
benefitstheathleticsclubinMoynethatI’malsoinvolvedwith.“AsfarasIknow
thecouncilinNorthTipperarywouldbeuniqueas(.)whentheturbinesstartedoff
initially,IthinkjeezthisoneherecertainlycouldhavebeenoneofthefirstinNorth
Tipperary.So thecouncilwere lookingatus to seehowwewerereacting.” They
assessed the process and “when they sawhowwell this, the communityworked
quitewell together ingetting these sumsofmoney.” (Appendix, p. 221)Hasmy
experiencehelpedthecommunitywellmaybeithasormaybeithasn’t.ButI’m
from the area “being part of the ‘Parish Forum’, allocatingmoney every year is
58
certainlyyouknowit’snice toknowthere’sgood jobsdoneandthemoneysbeen
spentcorrectlylike,youknowwhatImean”….“I’mnotlookingforanycreditbutI’d
liketoseeifitwasdoneahappreciatedlikeyouknow”(Appendix,p.222).
6.3. ReducedHorizonalDescriptionofMrPaddyDoyle’sParticipation
“Theinitialwordwasthroughwordofmouthnotthoughameetingoraletteror
anything” (Appendix,p.230).Peopleresearchedand look into it tosee if there
wereanynegativeeffectsfromthemasithasbeenshowninthemedia.“Ikindof
vaguelyremembermeetingwiththepeoplebeforetheLisheenturbineswhereset
up”(Appendix,p.233).“Atthetimewhentheturbineswherebeingmootedthere
wasanactiongroupwhereformedtokindofreallytoinquire(.)theyweren’tan
antiturbinegroup.”But theyaimed to findmore information. “IsupposeIwent
downouteh:ofcuriosityIsupposeasmuchasanythingelse”Theyturnedupvery
little negative findings and sure the planningwent ahead. At the initial parish
forum meeting a committee was elected, “it was set up and then an annual
general meetingwas formed was called after that and it kind of just gradually
grewtheformatofhowithowitoperateswaskindoforganicreallyit(.)emerged
asneedsbekindof”(Appendix,p.232).
SincethetimeitwassetuptheLisheenMineswerequiteopenwiththepeople
atallstagesofthedevelopment.Stating,“whatitwasdoingandwhatitintended
to do” (Appendix, p. 233). This worked very well. Compared with other local
mines,LisheenMinescooperationhas“operatedonamuchmoreopenbasiswith
thecommunityanditseemstohaveworkedanawfullotbetter.” “Andsowhenit
cametotheturbinestheyadoptedthesamekindofsystemreally.Theydidinform
usandtherewasmeeting”(Appendix,p.234).“Yeahlikeopennessdefinitelyseems
tohaveworked” it’s easier to allay fearsbefore things a constructed thenafter
thefact.“TheLisheenMinekindofseemedtohave(.)kindofgivenusthechanceto
askquestionsandthingslikethat”(Appendix,p.234).“Isupposeeh::theywereas
keenaskeepingthethingrightaswewere”(Appendix,p.235).
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TheLisheenMinewereverygoodatengagingwiththepublic.Infairnessmore
thenhalfofthepeopleontheforumhadavestedinterestinsomeorganisation.
Buttherewasageneralfairnessand“akindofahresponsibilitytothecommunity
asmuch as anything.” (Appendix, p. 236). AALM Ltd engaged in all phases of
development“theywerecomprehensiveandtheyhadafollowupontheworkthat,
youknowIthinkeveryoneishappyastheycouldbewithit.Youknow”(Appendix
3, p. 147). I was happy to do it “I’m just (.) I’m always involved in community
projectsaroundhere”…“I’mjusthappytobeinvolved”(Appendix,p.238).
6.4. ReducedHorizonalDescriptionofCllr.JohnHogan’sParticipation
As a public rep I was contacted when then wind farm was suggested. They
wanted to know how I felt. “I felt there would be plenty of objections to it”
(Appendix, p. 239). AALM Ltd felt that they should set up this Parish Forum,
whichwas an excellent idea. “SowesetupaParishForumtodiscuss thewhole
thingandhaveaformalparishstructureforsomethinglikethiscominginbecause
itcouldhaveadetrimentaleffectwedidn’tknowyousee.Theproblemisignorance
(.)anawfullotofpeoplehaven’taclue.Theythinkit’sgoingtodothemharm,but
theydon’treallyknow”(Appendix,p.240).
So we set up the parish forum and elected members. “Everyone came to the
meetingeveryonewasallowedtosuggestsomebodyandthehighest16cametothe
voteandgotelected” (Appendix,p.240). “What’s in it forthelocalcommunity?”
Themanageroftheminesbeingawareofcorporatesocialresponsibilitypointed
us towards using the planning process to get some financial compensation for
community.Only a public submission could ask for this. “SoIwenttothe local
meetingsanywayandIsuggested(.)Ishouldhavewaitedawhile(.)thatweshould
put inasubmission looking forsomething for these turbines.So Iwasbooedand
hissedasthelocalcouncillorputtingupthewhiteflag”(Appendix,p.241).Inthe
next publicmeeting they said, “againyoucannotsend inanapplication(.) they
saidyoudon’trepresentus”.EventhoughI’mtheonlycouncillorinthearea,there’s
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nooneelse.SoIsaidwhorepresentsyou.Sowhorepresentstheparish?Theysaid
theparishpriestrepresentsus”(Appendix,p.241).FrMurphytheParishpriestis
averyquiteman,“soeventuallyIhadtosendinasubmission,andIdidit.Looking
for40,000peryearfromtheturbines”(Appendix,p.242).
I feeltheengagementwiththecommunitywasminimal.“Itwasgoodbutitwas
stillminimal. Itwasbetter thanwehad ina lot of thingsbeforehand. Youknow
there’sallotofplanningpermissionsforvariousprojectswehearnothing.Atleast
theheldopenmeetingsinlocalcommunitycentresandinvitedpeopleintohavea
lookat it” (Appendix, p. 245).On thenight of themeetings theydiddistribute
leaflets but “I feltmaybe they shouldhavemaybe contacted individual objectors
andtalkedtothemabouttheirconcerns.Maybegoonatripwiththe(.)whenwe
went off we hired a bus and we went to lookmaybe come with us. Talk to the
people,bepartofus” (Appendix, p. 245). “Itbecameathemandusratherthen,
welllet’sjustdothisforeverybodyyou’regoingtogainoutofit,andwe'regoingto
gain out of it. Everybody gains in the finish that’s the reality and we gain as a
nationwiththeuseofgreenenergy”(Appendix,p.245).
“I’d say if the LisheenMinewas back again theywould have learned from their
experience. You knowprobably,more engagement. Theymade a good stab at it.
Maybesetuptheforumfirstandinvitetheminandsaywherethinkingofdoinga
windfarm.Tellthemwhatthebenefitsofit”(Appendix,p.248).
6.5. CompositeTextualDescription:OfParticipationintheLisheenCasestudy.
Finally taking the four reduced individual horizonal descriptions that are
comprised of a mix of reductions and direct quotes; the phenomenological
analysiswillbecompletedwiththecreationofacompositethematicdescription
of the experience of participation. The results belowhavebeenorganised into
fourdifferentthemesthatemergedfromthedata.
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6.5.1. InformedParticipation
The first theme focuses on the initial experience of the open meetings and
formation of the Parish Forum. The individual descriptions reveal the open
evening meetings as providing a comprehensive visual experience of the
proposedwindturbinedevelopment.Therewasanawarenessoftheimportance
of this interaction but felt its impact to beminimal. However informative, the
interviewees’experienceswiththeopeninformationeventswereunremarkable.
TheinitialparticipatorycontactwithAALMLtdwasperceivedasbeneficialyet
therewasa lingering feeling that thedevelopersweresomewhat indifferent in
their approach to informing the community. Other actions taken by theAALM
Ltd such as the initiationof theParishForumwere viewed in amorepositive
manner. The common experiences attached to it show how deliberation and
consensus within the community’s response to the development was
appreciated. The Parish Forums development was perceived as an organic
processwhichemergingastheneedsbeanddevelopedasdemocraticconsensus
buildingentity.TheexperienceofengagementwithAALMLtdthroughtheParish
Forumwasinanopenandrespectfulmanner.
6.5.2. RepresentationandCommunityIdentity
Thepublicparticipationbroughtupunderliningcommunitypolitics.Duringthe
‘ParishForum’meetingsthepresenceofconflictingopinionsofwhorepresents
thecommunitywerenotable.Doubtsandfearsoftenaccompaniedacleardesire
for theparticipants tohave their concernsabated.Thepersonorpersonswho
carried themost influence in directing the process created some tension. This
tensionappearedtoimpacttherunning,discussionsanddecisionsmadebythe
‘ParishForum’,whichwasrepresentingthewillofthecommunity.Thistension
was visible when participants challenged the position of themain community
leaderelected localCountyCouncillor JohnHogan.Theattempt to replacehim
with a more traditional community representative the parish priest Fr. Pat
Murphyshowsthistension.Theexperiencesoftheparticipantsthroughoutthis
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processrevealthelayersofsocialconstructs,whichhelpformthecommunity’s
identity.
6.5.3. Self-PerceptionwithintheLocalCommunity
The participant’s experiences of the phenomena did not only bring forward
identity issues for the community as a whole but it also affected how the
individualssawthemselvesinthatcommunity.Byplayinganactiverolethrough
thepublicparticipation individualparticipants reinforced theirpositionwithin
theircommunity.Thistiestothestrongreferencesinregardstorespectandthe
role it plays during the public participation. Those taking an active role in the
public participationheld apositionof respect.Respect shownbyAALMLtd to
participants and the community as a whole also featured notably in their
experiences.Theexperiencealsobroughtwithitfeelingsofgenuinehappinessat
being directly involved in processes which they perceived as benefiting their
community.
6.5.4. ParticipationasaDuty
ThefinaldistinctivethemeexperiencedbytheparticipantsintheLisheenWind
Farmcaseisthenotionthattheparticipationwasaduty.Aconsiderablenumber
of horizons indicated a drive to safeguard family and community. This
requirement to defend against external forces of the unknownwas a common
experience.Thisexperiencewasshapedbyaprotectivestance,whichwasboth
motivated by protecting their current quality of lifemaintaining that standard
for futuregenerations. Itwastheirdutytoprotect theircommunityand insure
its development for the future. The conscious influence of the fearful media
narrative on wind turbines is also acknowledged as influencing their initial
actions within the participation and planning stages. This defensiveness and
experienceofparticipationwasdrivenbythewilltoactasadutifulcitizen.The
collaborativeeffortsseeninthe“ParishForum’benefitedfromthisdriveasmore
engagementinthenegotiationsledtomutualgainandapositiveoutcometothe
development.
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6.6. SubConclusionThe second analysis set out to deeply explore exactly how the participants
experienced the phenomena of public participation in the LisheenWind Farm
case. Utilising phenomenological methods brought a more human centred
approach to the case study. Through its development of a rich composite
description revealed new insight with the same empirical data utilised in the
firstanalysis.Anumberofprominentthemesemergedfromthisapproachwhich
otherwisewouldhavebeenmissed.Identityissuesplayaroleinhowindividuals
experienced the participation. For example the importance of how self-
perception was shown to be positive reinforcing factor to the continued
engagement in participation. While animosity revolving around community
representationandtraditionalpowerstructureswasalsohighlighted.
Theanalysisalsofoundthattherearemotivatingfactors,whichmayhavebeen
overlookedbyotherresearch,suchasdutytoone’slocalcommunity.Thisplayed
a role in motivating all of the interviewees to actively engage in the public
participationprocess.Alsoitwasfoundthatfeelingsofhappinesswereachieved
through this engagement with the participation process. As the participants
believed they were doing right by family and their community. Other factors
suchasfearoftheunknownandeffectofnegativeexternalinformationsources
also impacted their experiences and acted as a driving factor in their early
experiences of participation. The phenomenological analysis also found that
respectwasimportanttotheparticipants.
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7. DiscussionThis discussion chapter elaborates on the case study findings, which were
derived from the dual analysis of the Lisheen Wind Farm case study. This
approachutilisedtwodifferentanalysismethods:theuseofcriteriatoassessthe
Aarhus convention and the use of themore human centred phenomenological
analysis.Thesubsequent findingswillbediscussedalongwiththeirrelationto
thetheoreticalframeworkandaimtoplacethefindingsofthecasestudyinthe
broaderdialogueofEIAandpublicparticipationcomplementedwithacademic
literature.
7.1. PublicParticipationandweaknessesoftheAarhusConvention
TheLisheenWindFarmcasehasdisplayedthecomplexitiesofconductingpublic
participationwithinIrishEIAs.Thesecondhalfoftheresearchquestionfocuses
on howmuch of the Aarhus Convention’s rights to access were fulfilled? The
evaluationcriteriafindingsclearlyshowedthatthepublicdidhaveaccesstothe
three pillars of the Aarhus Convention namely, assess to environmental
information,Publicparticipation in environmentaldecision-makingandAccess
to justice. However the findings did also show that this came with some
considerable deficiencies. Prevailing academic thought perceives public
participation as playing a central role in environmental management systems
such as EIAs (Hartley, 2005; Jay, 2007; Doelle, M. 2006). However, there has
been considerable debate over the quality and effectiveness of public
participation within EIAs. This debate rages throughout the literature with
numerous different viewpoints from which strong critiques of public
participationwithinEIAshavebeenmade.ThisMaster’s thesisdidnot set out
directlytocritiquepublicparticipationinEIAs. Insteaditspurposehasbeento
exploretheexperiencesoftheparticipantsthemselvesandtoexploretheextent
towhichtheAarhusConvention’sprincipleswerefollowed.
65
The results of the dual analysis conveyed some of the issues facing public
participation and the Aarhus Convention. It became clear from the in-depth
interviews and document study that none of the participants had a clear
understanding as towhat public participation should entail. The knowledgeof
the Aarhus Convention was also not evident, with even the local County
Councillor JohnHoganhavingneverheardof theConvention.Withnodefinite
definition of public participation or strict guidelines for its conduct affected,
communitiesarehardpressedtoknowiftheyhavebeenconsultedinlinewith
standardpracticeorhavebeenbeneficiariesofamoretokenisticgesture.
Theconfusionsurroundingwhatqualifiesasinclusiveparticipationoradequate
consultation is not a strong starting position to begin a constructive dialogue
with a community. This confusion has been highlighted before within EIA
literature. Faircheallaigh (2010) for example worked on distinguishing clearly
betweentherangeofpurposesofpublicparticipation.Hepointstothefactthat
the issue of public participation is highly political and contested by many
stakeholders. Italsohasmanyobjectivesand involvesmanydifferentconcepts
and consequences for policy makers (O'Faircheallaigh 2010). Informing the
public on developments is a very different thing to the reality of communities
directly influencing decision-making. Faircheallaigh (2010) also notes how the
objectivesidentifiedinthecorebodyofliteratureonpublicparticipationinEIA
arecomplex,anddemandconsiderableanalysisanddefinition.Takingallofthis
intoaccount,itisnotsurprisingtoseetheparticipantsinthiscasestrugglingto
comprehendhowpublicparticipationissupposedtobeconducted.
SimilarlevelsofuncertaintywerepresentintherolethattheAarhusConvention
played in the case. The discrepancies betweenwhat qualifies as following the
principlesoftheAarhusConventionandwhatactuallyoccursduringthepublic
participationraisedsomeimportantquestions.Thisaversiontostrictlydefining
the parameters of public participation can be seen in section 5.2.1 where the
conventionproposesareasonabletimeframeforinformingthepublic.However,
astheexactdurationofa“reasonabletimeframe”isneverexplicitlydefined.This
undefinedtimeframewasveryimportantinregardstoinformationprovisionin
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the case. As noted in section 5.2.1, the Templetuohy andMoyne communities
faced issues acquiring copies of the EISwhich impacted the public’s ability to
utilise the EIS in the time given to submit written comments and objections.
Thereforemembers of the community had to borrow or share the few copies
thathadbeensoldtothepublic.
Section5.2.3notes thatplanningauthoritieshave strict rules in regards to the
timingofsubmissionsforactiveplanningapplications.However,thetimeframe
for informationprovisionwas at the discretion ofAALMLtd, as theEISwas a
commissioned report to which they owned the rights. What was the reason
behindthislimitedamountofEIScopies?Couldithavebeenadeliberateattempt
at limitingthecommunities’abilitytochallengethewindfarmdevelopmentby
reducing theaccess to crucial information?Orwas it a simple clerical erroror
underestimationofthedemandforcopies?Withinthescopeofthisstudy,ithas
notbeenpossibletodeterminewhatexactlyhappenedinthisinstance.However,
if information provision hadmore specific guidelines attached, this errormay
nothaveoccurred.
Theseissuesbeingdiscussedhavealsobeenrepresentedpartiallywithsomeof
the literature on public participation in EIA. Public participation and the
application of the Aarhus Convention in EIA have been criticised for the
weaknessesdiscussedabove.HartleyandWood’s(2005)studyofEIAandhow
theAarhusConventionwasimplementedintheUnitedKingdomhasafocuson
thegoalsofearlyandeffectivepublicparticipation.Similartothefindingsofthis
thesis,HartleyandWood(2005) found thatmostof thebasicprinciplesof the
AarhusConventionhadbeen fulfilled, however, they alsonotedweaknesses in
appropriatetimingofthepublicparticipationandissueswithundefinedtermsin
theAarhusConvention. These undefined elements in the Conventionmake for
assessingtheeffectivenessofpublicparticipationmoreconvolutedasavariety
ofdifferentopinionsonwhatiseffectiveexistbetweenparticipantsandofficials
(Ibid). Olsen and Hansen (2014) also share this position, as their findings on
public participation in Greenland argue that with the absence of overall
67
definitionsandguidelines,publicparticipationinEIApreventseffectivedialogue
betweenconsultersandconsulted.
Despitemajorerrorsonthepartofthoseresponsibleforinformationprovision,
the ‘accessibility and information provision’ practice criteria used in this case
wasfulfilled,asAALMLtdwereconsideredtohavefollowedtheprinciplesofthe
AarhusConvention’sfirstpillarofaccesstoinformation.TheAarhusConvention
waswritteninawaythatallowsfordifferenttermsinthetexttobeinterpreted
differentlydependingonwho is implementing theconvention (Stec2000).But
hereinliestheissue;thisflexibilitymakestheAarhusConventionpossiblebutat
the same time it canbe argued that it compromises theConvention toomuch.
However, when a multi-part convention is applicable to many different
countries,thisflexibilitymakesadaptingnationallegislationinaccordancewith
theconventionasimplerprocess.
Ofcoursethisflexibilitycanalsobeinterpretedascontinuingontothescopeand
contentof theAarhusConvention.Ononehand this givesdifferentparties the
ability to alter the extent to which they abide by certain aspects of the
Convention. However, on the other hand this is problematic as it fosters the
uneven implementation of the Convention. Stec (2000) puts forward the
argument that theAarhusConventioncanbe seenasa ‘floor’ as it attempts to
regulatebehaviourandenforcenormsatacertainbroadlevel.Resultsfromthis
caseshowthattheConventiondidawardsomestrongprotectionstothepublic,
however this flexibilitymayhaveallowed foraweakening in theprotectionof
rightstoaccessinformation.Itmustalsobenotedthatofcoursethisdiscussion
hasconsequencesontheresearchasthisflexibilityistranslatedtothepractice
criteria and causes issues in their implementation. This topic will be touched
uponlateroninthediscussion.
Could the difficulties of practicing public participation within EIAs be due to
theirhistorical techno-rationalapproachtodecisionmaking? Jay(2007)points
to the historical beginnings of EIAs, whereby technical rationalist thinking
dominatedthedecision-makingprocessthatwasinharmonywiththeEIAs’goal
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to provide environmental information. The techno-rational approach still
maintains a strong influence within institutionalised EIAs in many countries
(Lawrence 2000). However, this strong technical emphasis and its autocratic
tendencies marginalise the role the public play in EIAs. Experts and officials
dominate theproceedingswhilealsoassuming that theyact rationallywithout
externalforcessuchasmonetaryorpoliticalconsiderationsaffectingthem.The
LisheenWindFarmcasedidshowsignsofthistechno-rationalapproach-with
thelocalCountyCouncil,politiciansandmanagersofAALMLtddominatingthe
process.Italsohadelementsofmoreparticipatorygovernancewithinthepublic
participation process. The community-run Parish Forum was developed and
managedinawaythatgavespacefordiscourseonsomeofthesocialimpactsof
thedevelopment.
Thisposesthequestion:whatnowtakesprecedenceinthepublicparticipation
of EIAs? Do social considerations now hold the same weight as biophysical
elements? Although the traditional techno-rational position still remains
dominant in EIA practice, the spectrum of thinking on that position has been
shifting in recent years towards incorporating more collaborative and
participatory approaches. The implementation of the Aarhus Convention is
helpingtothischangewithitsstrengtheningofpublicparticipationbutthereis
still plenty of room to improve. EIAs nowhave the ability to fulfilmuchmore
than just their remit as an environmental advisory tool. They represent the
opportunity of becoming vehicles for community empowerment while at the
same time companies could benefit from capturing the values of those
participating.Withthatbeingsaidthecallsforalternativeapproachesareasign
thatthemajorityofEIAsstillgravitatetowardsthistechno-rationalapproach.
TheLisheenWindFarmcasestudyhasdisplayedthatthecommonweaknesses
attributed to the Aarhus Convention’s utilisation and public participation as a
wholearestillpresentinEIAsintheRepublicofIreland.Thereisurgentneedto
exposeweaknesses inpublicparticipation so that futureEIAs learn from their
mistakes.Thereisaverypressingneedfortherapidshifttorenewableenergyto
bemanagedeffectively.ThepublicparticipationinEIAsnowcomesatthevery
69
time that the public is directly facedwith the need for this renewable energy
shift. Having a flawed public participation process mitigates the chance of
successfullyengagingandincorporatingthelocalcommunityinthisshifttomore
renewableenergiessuchaswind.TipperaryLocalCountyCouncildidshowthe
capacity to learn from theLisheenWindFarm’s successeswith theadditionof
thecommunitystipend.TheCountyCouncilamended theCountyDevelopment
Planwhichnowstatesthatanywindturbinesbuiltmustgive€4,500tothelocal
community(Hogan2015).Iftheycanlearnfromthesuccesses,maybetheycan
learnfromfailures.
Somesimplerecommendationscouldbetoensurethatmoreattentionispaidto
the time given to considerations for reasonable information provision and
noticesof theparticipationevents.Educatingthecommunityas to thepurpose
and structure of the public participation prior to its commencement could
alleviate some of the confusion surrounding the process. In light of the
weaknesses in the case it still represents the desired transition for a local
communitywhoseenergyusageweredominatedbyfossilfuelstowardscleaner
renewable energy. The LisheenWind Farmmay be small in scale, but the fact
that local community who had little or no experience with this new form of
renewableenergyproductionhasacceptedit,isanencouragingsign.
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7.2. Barrierstoparticipation
Theexplorationintoboththeexperiencesoftheparticipantsthemselvesandthe
assessmentoftheAarhusConventionilluminatedsomeofthebarriersthatwere
presentinthecasethatimpededpublicparticipation.Mostnoticeablyfirstpillar
of the Arhus Convention, access to environmental information had some
considerable issues present. Some of the common barriers such as poor
informationprevision,poor levelsof influence, andpoor access to legal advice
havealreadybeenmentionedhere.Yetthesepotentialbarriersarenotlimitedto
these examples. Both Petts (1999) andHartley andWood (2005) have argued
that there are stillmajor room for improvement in public participation in EIA
whenitcomestotacklingthenumberofbarriersthatarestillpresent.Monetary
barriers, educational barriers and poor facilitation all impacted on the overall
experienceofthepublicparticipationintheLisheenWindFarmcase.
Acommonthreadthroughouttheinterviewswasthatthetopicofmoneyandits
allocation came forward naturally during the in-depth interviews. Topics
discussedincludedhowmuchthewindturbineswereworthtothecommunity,
and howmany jobs and development they could bring, signalling these were
important issues to the interviewees. Interestingly the interviewees did not
complain about the monetary barriers that existed in regards to access to
informationandaccesstojustice.
Byconductingthedocumentstudy,itwasrevealedhowmoneymayhaveacted
asabarriertopublicparticipationinthecase.ThelimitednumberofEIScopies
thatwere available to purchase cost €45 for a copy. Financial constraints can
severelyaffect thecapacityof thepublic toengagewithmostvitalelementsof
thepublicparticipation(Zuhair2016).€45isquitealargesumofmoneytopay
to gain access to the vital information about the environmental effects facing
TempletuohyandMoyne.Acopyforreadingwasmadeavailabletoreadduring
officehours,howeverthiswasonlywithinworkinghoursonsite.Itshouldalso
benotedthatthisofficeisnotinacentral,easilyaccessiblelocation,giventhat
theofficeislocatedatthemineitself.Addedtothemonetarybarrierforviewing
71
theEIS, therewasanadditional chargeof€20per submission to theplanning
authorities for people who wanted to make a written objection. This barrier,
while it did not prevent some of the interviewees from accessing the EIS and
filing submissions to the local County Council, may have prevented the less
financially secure members of the community from accessing their rights to
publicparticipationenshrinedbytheAarhusConvention.
Palerm’s (2000)workonEIAs in theMaldives showshowbarriers reduce the
capacity of the affected communities to engage in public participation. Low
procedural awareness in public participation and the decision-making process
canplayalargeroleinthis(Palerm2000).Themotivationsbehindtheanti-wind
farmmovementthatoccurredduringtheapplicationprocessshowsignsofclear
misunderstandingandpoorenvironmentaleducationinregardstothepossible
impactsofthedevelopment.Othervariablesalsocontributedtothismovement
suchasfearsofpropertypricedevaluation,butifpublicparticipationexpanded
itsroletoincludemoreeducationaleffortstheconflictcouldhavebeenavoided.
AALMLtdwereawareof the resistance to thedevelopmentanddemonstrated
theirabilitytocompromisewiththecommunitythroughtheestablishmentofa
stipend in order to help move forward with the development. Half of the
intervieweesmentioned how the stipend was not a case of AALM Ltd buying
themoff.Thecaseisalsoanexampleofhowpublicopinionchangeddramatically
overthecourseoffouryears.Somuchsothatamainprotesterandtreasurerof
the Moyne and Templetuohy Action Group agreed to have five wind turbines
placedonhislandfollowingtheexpansionseeninthesecondphase.
Another barrier was poor handling of the facilitation of discussions with the
community. AALM Ltd’s initial approach of setting up a forum to discuss the
prospectofdeveloping thewind farmwasapromising start.The interviewees
described the healthy relationship that the mine had with the community.
However,someoftheintervieweesmadeitclearthatfollowingtheinitialcontact
and initiation of the forum, AALM Ltd did not take an active role within the
facilitationoftheParishForum.Zuhair(2016)arguesthattrainedpractitioners
72
are essential to effective public participation. The main facilitation occurred
during the twomainopendaysshowcasing thedevelopment.Theorganisation
andfacilitationoftheParishForumwaslefttothelocalcommunityandthelocal
CountyCouncillor.Thecommunities’abilitytoorganiseandrunafunctionaland
successfulforumwithoutanyhelpisimpressivebutitcouldhavebenefitedfrom
a visit from professionals trained in facilitation and conflict resolution. It is
understandable that the EIA practitioners did not have a role in the Parish
ForumasitsactivitycontinuedlongafterthepractitionershadfinishedtheEIS.
However,thesimpleadditionofafewfollow-upmeetingswiththeParishForum
couldhaveimprovedtheprocessgreatly.
Capacity-building is a term that has been seen in EIA literature for some time
now. It has a very important role in training of practitioners on better EIA
practiceandlearningfromcontinuingresearchinthearea(Jay2007).Whileitis
unclearifcapacityissuesweretherootcauseofthisbarriertobetterfacilitation,
couldtherebeapossibilitytoextendthistrainingtoofficersandmanagersona
privatecompany level?With thehigh levelsofcompetitionseen fromdifferent
environmentalconsultancyfirmscompetingforEIAcontractsitisdifficulttosee
ideas such as this being viable within a capitalistic system, as any additional
moneyrequiredforthepresenceofaprofessionalconsultantwouldaddcostto
thebid,makingthe firm lesscompetitive.Maybeadifferentapproachcouldbe
taken,suchasmakingitmandatorytohavefacilitationtrainingformanagersor
complianceofficersofcompaniesinvolvedintheEIA.
7.3. TheoreticalconsiderationsonthecaseTheuseofphenomenologicalmethodstoexploretheexperienceofparticipation
inamorehumancentredwaybroughtwith itsometheoreticalconsiderations.
Utilising this analysis method required the ability to approach the data in a
alternativeway.BergerandLuckmann’sworkalsoapproachedsocialrealityina
newway.Aswesawinthetheoreticalframeworkchapter,byattachingconcept
of the life-world to Berger and Luckmann’s Social Construction of Reality, the
theoryofknowledgehasbeenaugmentedinawaywhichallowsustodiscussthe
73
results of the case in amore concrete and logicalmanner. A primary facet of
Berger and Luckmann’s theory rests in the effects of habitualization and
institutionalisation.Ifweapplythislenstosomeofthefindingsoftheresultsit
could help further explain the participants’ experiences. It also could help
explain the way in the communities’ perspective of the wind turbines altered
betweenthefirstandthesecondphasesofwindfarmexpansion.Theresultsalso
highlighted how the participants reflect upon their position within the
communitythroughtheirparticipation.
The Templetuohy and Moyne communities were not accustomed to wind
turbines before this case. They had no practical understanding of what these
objects would do to their locality. Habitualization could explain how the
community came to become so accepting of these large, energy-producing
turbines.Alltheintervieweesnotedhowtheturbinesatfirstwereimposingand
broughtaboutacertainlevelofaweattheirsheerscale.Butsoon,theybecame
lessnoticeableand justpartof the landscape.This isaperfectexampleofhow
day-to-dayhabitsofhumansoperating in their environment are subject to the
processofhabitualization.Thecommunitywentfromnotseeinganyturbinesto
seeing 18 of themhabitually every day.However, it could be argued that pre-
existing energy industry structures within the locality may have made the
acceptanceof thewind turbineseasier.ThepresenceofAnBordnaMóna, the
Irish national electricity producer, in the locality since the 1950s could have
impactedhowlocalswouldhabitualisethisnewformofenergyproduction.
Anotherexampleofhabitualizationwasnoticeable in intervieweeTimBergin’s
commentsonshadowflicker.Withtheerectionofthefirstsetofturbinesitsoon
became clear that the offices inwhich heworked at themine suffered from a
certainamountofshadowflickeratthesametimeeveryday.Hestatedthatthis
was shocking the first few times it occurred. But soon this also became
habitualisedandnolongerbotheredhimasmuch.Whenthesehabitualsettings
becomepredictabletothewholecommunity,andnotjusttoasingleindividual,
itcanbedescribedasbeingpartoftheprocessthatBergerandLuckmanncalled
institutionalization. It can be argued that the turbines became an institution
74
within the social environment a few years after being erected. Part of this
institutionwasthecommunitystipendthat,asseen insection6.5.1,developed
its own set of rules that governed the use of the stipend. Therefore, the
development of habitualised rules within the institution is noticeable. As this
newinstitutionissettolastforatleastthe20yearsoftheturbinelifespan,there
isevenapossibilitythattheinstitutioncouldbecomereifiedandpasseddownto
thenext generationofTempletuohyandMoyne residents.Howeverdue to the
scopeofthisstudyitisstilltoosoontospeculateonthat.
7.4. AlternativeapproachesandmethodologicalreflectionThisthesis’sresearchquestionaskedhowhavethestakeholdersoftheLisheen
WindFarmexperiencedtheirpublicparticipationinvolvementinIrishEIA.The
findings answered this with the help of the phenomenological analysis. It
suppliedrichdescriptionsoftheirexperiencesandinformativethemesemerged
whichwere derived from the subjective data of participants’ experience.With
thesefindingsinmindisthereabetterwaytoapproachpublicparticipationin
EIAsthanhowitcurrentlyisbeingconducted?TheinherentsubjectivityofEIAs
isoftenseenasashortcoming,asjudgementbasedonpersonalopinionsshould
go against the primary goals of EIAs. That being said, could there be away of
utilisingthissubjectivityratherthanperceivingitasashortcoming?Thissection
willdiscussthisprospectwithreflectionsonthemethodsusedthroughoutthis
Master’sthesis.
Qualitativeresearchmethodswerepredominantlyutilised inorder toresearch
the Lisheen Wind Farm case. In doing so, this Master’s thesis has faced the
difficult reality of assessing and qualifying information from subjective
individuals, who are obviously shaped by their social, political and cultural
environment. The majority of literature on public participation in EIAs
concentrates on that practice. ThisMaster’s thesis also focused on howpublic
participation is practiced. However, this research also acknowledged the fact
thatthesubjectiveexperiencesoftheparticipantstendtobeunderrepresented
75
withintheliterature.Thisiswhyphenomenologicalmethodswereutilisedinthe
secondanalysisofthedata.
Phenomenological methods help to describe and interpret the meanings of
humanexperiences. Thecentralityofthehumanbeingsinthismethodiswhat
makes it so useful in discovering how the interviewees regarded the public
participationinthecase.Theconceptofthelife-worldiscentraltothisprocess,
astheexperiencesoftheparticipantscanbegivenmeaningwhenreferredtothe
experientially given world, and is reflected upon in the process of
phenomenologicalreduction.Byemphasisingthesignificanceofthelife-worldit
shouldbenotedthatitisnotattheexpenseofscience.
Zahavi’s(2009)writingsonthelife-worldmakeasalientpointinregardstothe
natural sciences and subjective phenomena such as the experience of
participation.Thenaturalscienceshavealwaysfounditdifficulttoresearchthe
socialsideofcases.Thenaturalscienceshaveatendencytoadvocateobjectivism
andscientism.Scientismistheopinionthatonlynaturalsciencedecideswhatis
real, and thus reality is identical to what can be proven by natural scientific
approaches (Zahavi 2009). Under this view, subjective phenomena such as
aesthetic tastes are often disregarded, as they possess no real objective
existence. This could help explain why individual participants’ experiences of
publicparticipationinEIAsaresopoorlyarticulatedintheliterature.Definingan
individual’s experience cannot be described as an exact science, however this
shouldnotdiminishthevalueofsuchattempts.
Byexploringthephenomenonofpublicparticipationinthiscasewiththeuseof
phenomenologicalmethods,oneglaringdifferencebetween theresultsbecame
clear.The firstanalysisusedmethods thatwereassessment-basedandutilised
more frequently in the literature. Its results had similar outcomes to other
research on EIAs with a notable focus on its application and weaknesses in
process.
76
The results from the phenomenological analysis, on the other hand, did not
expose theweaknesses in thepublicparticipationasmuchas the firstanalysis
did. By utilising amore human centred approach, one could better empathise
with how the development of thewind farm had impacted the participants. It
exposed the different social factors and motivations that affected the
participantsthroughouttheprocess.Thiswasmostpronouncedinsections6.5.3
and6.5.4,whichdescribedhow theparticipants experienceda strong senseof
dutyattachedtotheparticipationprocess,andhowself-perceptionaffectedhow
they participated. Having more insights such as these could contribute to the
process of developing new, better ways of approaching public participation
withinEIAs.
Better insightswouldallow formore constructivedialoguebetweenassessors,
professionaldevelopersand theaffectedcommunities tooccur.Wilkins (2003)
would agree with this use of subjectivity to develop better dialogue between
professionals and the lay community. He remarks that subjectivity can be an
important source discourse, which in turn can foster social values such as
sustainabledevelopment(Wilkins2003).Anotherknock-onbenefitofimproved
dialogue would be to avoid conflicts such as the one seen in this case from
occurring. Benefits could also be seen in the empowerment of communities to
takemore of an active role in the future of the environment inwhichwe live.
Thiscaseshowedsignsthatdialogueanddiscussioncanleadtosituationswere
allpartiesbenefitfromthedevelopment.
EIA could also aim to act as a mechanism for environmental education. The
Lisheen Wind Farm case emphasised how a community which displayed
considerableresistancetotheideaofwindturbinescanaltertheirperspectives
in quite a short space of time. If a more concerted effort was made by the
developers to educate the community about the benefits ofwind energy, then
they possibly could have saved a lot of time andmoney during that extended
planning process. The current approach to public participation in Irish EIAs
77
should aim to incorporate better attempts to improve the level of dialogue
betweenallparties.
Doelle and Sinclair (2006) also articulate the possibility of a shift in how we
approachpublicparticipation inenvironmentalassessments.Thisshift isaway
from thehigh levels of discretion currently allowed in the assessmentprocess
and towards forming clear and mandatory foundations on which public
participationisconducted.Throughearliercontactandmoreopencollaborative
approaches to public participation, Doelle and Sinclair (2006) posit that
environmental assessments could be redesigned to represent what we have
knownabout theoretical literature forsome time.Fosteringbetterconnections
withthepublic thoughpublicparticipation ismutuallybeneficial forallparties
involved.
Havingcoveredsomeofthemajordiscussiontopicsthatarosefromtheresults,
this section will finish with some further reflections on the methodological
approachtakenandissueswhicharose.
The experience of undertaking thisMaster’s thesis has been a challenging yet
rewardingone.Overthecourseofthisresearchanumberofchallengessurfaced
asaresultoftheresearchdesign.Thefirstanalysisonpublicparticipationand
the Aarhus Convention utilised a set of practice criteria for assessing the
participationandtheadherenceofittotheprincipalsoftheAarhusConvention.
There is an inherent issuewith evaluating public participation, as there is no
widelyagreed-uponsetofcriteriaused.Someevaluationframeworksarebased
onthecommunicativetheoriesofHabermas(1984)whileotherswherebasedon
sociallearning,focusingtrustandtimingoftheparticipation.
This thesisdidnotutilise these frameworksas theywerenotadequate for the
assessing the adherence to the Aarhus Convention. In the end the practice
criteriawerechosenwiththeaimofassessingthethreepillarsoftheconvention
whichposedsomedifficulties.TheAarhusConvention,andpublicparticipation
for that matter, are not defined narrowly enough to ensure reliable outputs
78
whencriteriaarebeingtested.HartleyandWood(2005)alsonotethechallenge
of assessing theconventionwithout specific strict criteriabeingoutlined.With
this issue inmind the practice criteria thatwere utilised in this thesis had to
haveabroaderscopethendesirable.However,thepracticecriteriawhichwere
used did manage to give a detailed assessment of the adherence of public
participationtotheAarhusConvention.
Another issue was the outcome of the purposeful and snowball sampling
method.Thismixofsamplingmethodsinadvertentlyledtoanall-malesampleof
interviewees. Gender balance within research samples is clearly important in
ordertoadequatelyrepresenttheentirecommunity.Itshouldalsobenotedthat
women have clearly participated in the planning process as documentary
evidencenotably shows their presence in the objections and submissions.The
choiceofusingsnowballmethodmayberesponsiblefortheover-representation
ofmeninthestudy,thoughothersocialandculturalfactorsmayhaveplayeda
roleinthis.TheareaofTempletuohyandMoyneisinaveryrural,religiousand
traditionalpartoftheRepublicofIreland.Furtherresearchwouldberequiredin
order to investigate if this social and cultural context could have impacted
representation in the public participation. This study is not alone in showing
signsofmenbeingover-representedinpublicparticipation.OlsenandHansen’s
(2014)workinGreenlandnotedthatmainlymenvoicedtheiropinionduringthe
participation process, which they posit acted as a barrier to more inclusive
dialogue.
Finally, it isworthreflectingonthechoiceofonlyutilisingqualitativemethods
duringtheanalysisprocess.Onealternativeapproachwouldhavebeentousea
quantitativesurvey insteadof thepracticecriteria.Thiscouldhaveproduceda
broader representation of the entire community involved in the public
participation.However,itsusemaynothaveproducedvalidresultsasitwould
be extremely difficult to source enoughwilling respondentswho could deeply
reflect on the public participation. The use of quantitative methods such as
surveyscouldhaveactedinsomesupportingway,butitisclearthatwouldnot
79
beadequateenoughontheirowninattemptingtoexplorethesocialcomplexity
ofpublicparticipationinEIAs.
7.5. ConclusionsThisMaster’s thesis set out to explore the complexities of public participation
withinIrishEIAs.Inabreakfromthetypicalstudiesintopublicparticipationin
EIAs,itutilisedadualisticapproachtotheanalysisofthedatacollectedfromin-
depthinterviewsandadocumentstudy.Theaimoftheresearchwastoexplore
how the stakeholders of Lisheen Wind Farm development experienced their
public participation, and the extent to which the Aarhus Convention was
adhered. The dualistic approach utilised a set of practice criteria for the first
analysis and phenomenological methods for the second. This resulted in two
verydifferentsetsofresultsfromthesamedata.
The results proved that the criteria were fulfilled, thus this research can
conclude that in this case the primary principles from the three pillars of the
AarhusConventionwereadheredto.However,theresultsalsodisplayedsomeof
theweaknessespresentinpublicparticipationtoday.Similartootherliterature
in this field, thepublicparticipation facednumerousbarriersaswellashaving
some major issues in information provision and poor execution of the
participatory methods and monetary barriers. The flexibility present in the
AarhusConventionandthepublicparticipationcreatesunintendeddifficulties.
By not having explicit definitions, it creates a difficult atmosphere for the
practitioners and participants involved in the participation. The
phenomenological analysis returned quite a different set of results given the
nature of the approach. Its description of the experience of participation was
illuminating as it helped expose the capacities of the participants to engage in
public participation. Underlying social norms such as self-perception and
feelingsofdutytoone’scommunityresonatedstronglyintheresults.Thereisa
possibility that such social considerations could be utilised in some fashion in
80
order to promote more sustainable values and more constructive dialogue in
regardstothefutureofourenvironment.
The public participation in this case can be seen as falling short of its full
potential.ThehistoricalrootsofEIAs inutilisinga techno-rationalapproachto
infrastructural developments such aswind farms are seen clearly in this case.
EIAshavestillnotperfectedtheirabilitytoconsiderthesocialaspectsaffecting
public participation. However, this slowness to adapt could be turned into a
positive. A move to promote the use of more subjective data such as the
experiencesofparticipantscouldleadtobetterinsights,whichinturnleadtothe
moreco-operativeapproachestopublicparticipation.
Aswemovetowardsamorebeneficialandinclusiveformofpublicparticipation
withinEIA structures,wemust acknowledge that thisprogressiveprocesswill
taketime.PublicparticipationinEIAsstillmaintainsamarginalpositioninhow
EIAs are conducted in the Republic of Ireland today. This case showed the
weaknesses in the flexibility awarded to those responsible for initiating the
public participation.However,with the urgent and pressing need tomake the
shift from our dependence on fossil fuels to renewable energies, this case has
shown encouraging signs of things to come. That a small, traditional, rural
community such as Templetuohy and Moyne could drastically change their
opinionsonrenewableenergyproductionintheirlocalityisaveryencouraging
signindeed.
81
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Wolsink,M2007,'Windpowerimplementation:Thenatureofpublicattitudes:
Equityandfairnessinsteadof‘backyardmotives’',RenewableandSustainable
EnergyReviews,vol11.
Yin,RK2009,CaseStudyResearch:DesignandMethods,Sage.
York,R&Rosa,EA2003,'KeychallengestoEcologicalModernizationTheory',
Organization&Environment,2003,pp.273-288,viewed11May2016.
90
Zahavi,SO&D2009,'PhenomenologicalSociology-TheSubjectivityofEveryday
Life',inMHJacobsen(ed.),EncounteringtheEveryday:AnIntroductiontothe
SociologiesoftheUnnoticed,PalgraveMacmillan,Basingstoke.
Zuhair,MH,KPA2016,'Socio-economicandpoliticalbarrierstopublic
participationinEIA:implicationsforsustainabledevelopmentintheMaldives',
ImpactAssessmentandProjectAppraisal,vol34,no.2,pp.129-142.
9. ListofFigures
Figure1.Eurostat(2016),“Electricitygeneratedfromrenewablessources:%of
grosselectricityconsumption”,Accessed:05/02/2016,Available:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/graph.do?pcode=tsdcc330&language=en.
Figure2.Wikipedia(2016),“IslandofIrelandLocationmapTipperary”,Accessed:
23/05/2016,Available:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Tippe
rary.svg
Figure3.Devane,D(2015),[photograph]“LisheenWindFarm”
Figure4.Devane,D.(2015),[photograph]“OperationalLisheenwindturbines”
91
10.Appendix10.1InterviewGuidefortheLisheenWindFarmParticipants’
Topicandsubquestions PurposePresentationoftheinterviewerandthestudy:
1. Name
2. Short description of the thesis:HowyouareresearchingpublicparticipationwithintheLisheenWindFarmDevelopment
Togivetheintervieweeafeelingofthepurposeoftheinterviewandofthethesis,andtohelpcreatearelaxedatmosphere.Theunderstandingofthepurposeshouldincreasetheinterviewee’swillingnesstorespondindepthandtoanswerthequestionsbasedonhisfirstthoughtandwithoutstrategicpurposes.
Aboutinitialcontactaboutthedevelopment:3. Couldyoutellmeaboutthefirst
time you heard about thedevelopmentofthewindfarm?
4. Did you receive any literatureor information about the planstoconstructit?
5. Did you know that an
Environmental ImpactAssessmentwascarriedout?
Togettheconversationstartedbyaskingsimple,politeandeasytoanswerquestions.Alsobeginningtofindouthowtheywhereinitiallyapproached.Howinformationwasdistributed.ToshowiftheparticipantwasawareoftheEIAanditsrelevancetohowtheywhereengagedbythedevelopmentcompanyatthebeginningofthedevelopment.
AbouttheirExperienceandInvolvement:6. How would you describe your
participation/involvement inthe construction of the windfarm in 2009 and/or theextensionin2013?
7. How did you feel when youheardaboutthedevelopment?
8. Inyourexperiencewhatimpactdid your participation have onthewindfarmdevelopment?
Broadquestionintendedongettingtheparticipanttodescribetheirexperiencesofparticipationintheirownwords.Togaininsightsintohowtheyexperiencedtheiraccesstoinformationinthecase.Tofurtherallowtheintervieweeelaborateonhowtheyviewedtheirexperienceofparticipation.
AbouttheInformationMeetings:9. Where you aware of, or Togetaviewoftheparticipation
92
participated inany informationmeetings that happened in thearea?
10. Wasthereany localcommunityorganised meetings held abouttheplansforthewindfarm?
11. Do you think the information
given to the local communitywasadequate?
12. What worries did thecommunity have about theturbines?
throughdeveloperorganisedpublicmeetings.Toinvestigateothermeetingswhichfacilitatedthepublicparticipation.Togetaviewontheopiniononhowthelocalcommunitywasengagedwithasawhole.Didtheyfeeltheyhadaroleinthedevelopment?Tounderstandthefearswhichfacedthelocalcommunityduringthedevelopment.
AboutaccesstoDecisionmaking:13. How did you feel in regards to
the way the community wasinvolved in the planningprocess?
14. Didyoufeelyouhadasayinthedecision making processinvolved with the developmentofthewindfarm?
Toseeiftheintervieweesviewedtheparticipationasgivingthemaccesstotheplanningprocess.Toinvestigateiftheirinvolvementinthepublicparticipationgivethemthefeelingthattheyimpactedthedecisionmakingprocess.Didtheyhaveasayintheproceedings.
AboutaccesstoJustice:
15. Following the plans becomingpublicknowledgedidyouknowthat the public was invited tocommentontheplans/planningapplication? And if so did youcomment?
16. Doyoubelieve that communityhad adequate access tocomment on the developmentplans?
Tofindoutiftheintervieweewasawareoftheirabilitytochallengetheplanningprocessfollowingtheinitiallyplanningapplication.Tofindoutiftheyplayedanactiveroleincommentingontheplans?Toseewhattheregeneralopiniononthelevelofaccesstohavingtheiropinionheardintheplanningprocess.
93
10.2.Appendix:FullCodingofIn-depthInterviewsforPublic
ParticipationandtheAarhusConventionQualitativeAnalysis
10.2.1.QualitativeCodingoftheIn-depthinterviewwithTimBergin
-ChairoftheParishForum,localresidentandminer.
I:Interviewer
T:TimBergin
Transcription
Coding
I: I’m interested in your experiences of the
participation within the development of the
projectandwhenIsayprojectImeanthewhole
thingfrom2009,thewholething.
T:Myonly involvementwith it is, living locally
andworking.Idon’thaveanythingphysicallyto
dowiththem.
I:Ohok.
T: Em 2008/2009 sure the mines themselves
put in the planning for it. The mine didn’t
developitthentheysoldittoSWS(.)theywhere
Cork based em (.) there was a big anti wind
farmmovementat the time then.Therewas
agendas, where people involved with that
who had no interest being involved with it
(windfarm).Thewholeotherendoftheparish
Moyne, putting up the 8x4 placards. But look I
knowpeople that got roped into in because
some of their neighbours felt very strongly
OneofthefirstthingshementionsisanAnti–Windfarmgroupactivityinthecase.ConflictMentionthatindividualpeoplehadagendas?Displayingantiwindfarmsentiment.
Moreforcefullocals
94
about it and they felt that (.) doyou know (.)
didn’t want to be letting the side down. But
look it (.) that’s neither here nor there. There
was an anti em:: (.) development still went
ahead, they got the planning. 18 turbineswent
downfirst.
pressuredsomeoftheirneighboursintojoiningtheircause.Socialisationandparticipatingwithinthelocalsocialstructures.
I: I’m just wondering when did you first hear
aboutit?
T:IheardaboutitbecauseIwasworkinginthe
mines. They said they where looking for
planning. Sure look it was general knowledge
thenthereonceitcameout.Butinfairnessem:
they would have information evenings at the
timeshowingthedevelopment,withallthese
turbines they have a (.) they have pictures
andmontagesofitaviewthatway(pointsto
the left) and showingwhat there physically
going to see. There’s going to be a turbine
thereandaturbinethereintothepicturesso
youcan lookanydirectionandsee.Lookout
my back window its probably (.) probably 2
milesIsupposeasthecrowflies.Thenearestof
them you can see it out there. (.) Never
bothered me from day one anyway. So it
neverreallyitwasn’tanissueforme.
DirectlyfoundoutthroughThecompanydidmakeangoodefforttodisplaytheupcomingdevelopment.Visuallytheyshowedwheretheturbineswouldbeplacedinrespecttothelocalarea.Turbinesareveryvisiblefromhiskitchen.
I:Sodidyougotothemeetingsthen?
T: I would have yeah. I would have had an
interest in it and a keen interest in it still. I’m
Keeninterest
95
tryingtogetintotheindustrybecauselookit(.)
itsnotmaybegoingtogetabigasitwasbecause
of(.)Ithinkthisareaissaturatedwithturbines
attheminuetsothere’snotgoingtobeawhole
lotmore. But ah I would have an interest in it
fromthatpointofview.Ineversawthemasan
issue.Noiseor..
Jobsandgrowthinthecommunity–theformerroleoftheturfcuttingandminesimportanthere.-----HabitualizationofcustomsThoughlackingoptimismRepeatshiseasewiththeturbines
I:Ok,likethesightofit…
T:Thesightof it like look (.) thefactthatthere
onlow lying land,thereveryeasilyem:(.)you
wouldbedrivingdownaroadandthenyoucant
see them. Whereas when they’re put up on a
whole rangeofhills, they standout fromevery
direction.WhereasIgouptothecrossandIcant
see themandyougoanotherhalfmileandyou
can see the lot of them. And then gone again
anotherthreestopsorwhatever.Ithinkthelow-
lyingland(.)theycanbeconcealedeasily.
Aesthetics=Wellplacedtotakeadvantageofthelow-lyingland.Importanceofplanning
I:Soyoustartedparticipatingthroughreceiving
information about it then you went to the
meetings…
T:We where then involved in a group, it was
partoftheplanningapplicationthattheyhadto
(.) had to engage with the community. So a
group was set up then and it served too
purposes because themineswhere closing and
it actually served as a committee that where
meeting at the mines for other issues. It was
“Hadtoengage”participantholdsacriticalpositionontheoriginal
96
onlysetupinitiallytogetoverthis tohaveto
engage with the committee so. This Parish
Forumwassetup,Iwasonthecommittee(.)I’m
chairofitnowactually,but..
reasoningforitbeingsetup.ßButcreatedtheForumwhichheisachairof.Chairofforum
I:Soisitstillactive?
T:Yeah,Yeah(.)em:
I:Howmanymemberswouldyouhave?
T: Oh sure there’s probably thirty on the
committee.Embutthebigbenefitcommunity
wise was (.) is the funding you get for the
turbineslike.
Importanceoffundingdriver
I:Sodidtheyexplainthat,thefundingissue?Or
didthatcomeinlater?
T: Itwouldhavebeenexplainedbutnot inany
great detail at the early stages. I think at the
minuet it’s a:: it’s a condition of planning. So
there’snowayoutof it now.Whereasbefore
with these it was up to the company whether
they wanted to give the parish money or
whatever. Em: (…) a €1,000 per megawatt
isn’tit.That’sthestandardthingnow.Sowe
had18turbinesstartingout,ourinitialfund
orpotcallitwhatyouwantwas€30,000per
year.
Planningstipulations=communityfundingLargeincentivetoengageandaccepttheturbines
I:Andhowwidewouldthatbecommunitywise
97
becauseyouhaveMoyneand..
T: Yeah em we actually allocated money last
night for the present year (.) so basicallywhat
wedoiswesetoutanotice in thenewsletter
orwhatever locally.All the clubs knowabout
it know, it is kept within
Moyne/Templetuohywithin theparish.They
knewthesecondphaseofitwentup,another12
so there’s30 turbinessowehavesomething in
therangeof€53,000or€55,000ayearnow.
I:That’shuge!
T: The other turbines the latest ones to go up
againBruckanaBordnaMóna.
I:Yeah,YeahIoriginallygotconfusedwiththem,
Ithoughttheywheretheseones.
T:Didyeah,Haha(laughter).Sowehave,there’s
another pot of €40,000 there which is divided
betweenMoyne/TempletuohyandCrosspatrick.
Soyoucansay70oddthousand(€70,000).
Fundingprocessisorganisedinadeliberativedemocraticway.Followingthesuccessofthefirstphaseafurther12Smallparish–Templetuohy/Moyne3rdwindfarminthearea.Theyalsohavemanagedtosqueezemoneyoutofthisone.
I:Inageneralareainashortperiodoftime…
T: InashortperiodoftimeforIdon’tknowwe
wheredebatingwhetheritwas15or20yearsor
the life of the turbinewhich ever is first.Look
from a financial point of view there was a
hugebenefitfortheparishlike.Imeanitwas
serious money like. Some of the initial
Financialimportanceagain.Objectorshadareasonto
98
objectorsforthefirstphasehaveturbineson
therelandinthesecondphase.
altertheirviews
I:Andwouldtheybethefewthatareoverthere
bypastMoyneontheroad…
T: On the other side of the road yeah, yeah.
There’s 4 or 5 of them I think on one
particular fellas land. Now he would have
been on the committee. Now he may have
gottendragged into it Idon’tknow.But Imean
therehasbeenvideosdonefromSWSandthen
it was owned by Bord Gáis and now its
Brookfield, its been sold a few times. It was
actually done by SWS a promotional video
doneandsureIwasonit,Ihavenoobjectionto
it. This fella was on it, and he said he had no
issuessayinghedidobjecttothembutoncethey
whereup,youknowthe issueswithnoise (.) I
thinkisamyth(.)andtheflicker(.)yesitdoes
exist and if your, if they are verynear you. It’s
thefirsttimeyouseeityourwondering(.)it
islike(.)intense,itsfuckingintenselike.But
it comes and goes id say within a half an
hour,anhourmaxitwouldlast.Becauseyou
know the sunwouldmove. Flicker canbe an
issuebutthenoisething(.)Ithinkno,notabit
like.
RichardDaly–doesn’tmentionhimdirectly.Movedfromhavingastrongantipositiontobeinginapromotionalvideoforthem.Flickerisanissueifclose.Personexperienceoftheflicker.
I: So when youwhere being involvedwith the
community part, did they (development
company) structure it? Did they help you
99
structure it orwas itmore of your community
steppinguptoorganiseit?
T:Wewouldn’thave (…..) itwasa conditionof
planning that they have to engage with the
community now (.) that probably in different
areastookdifferentformsbecause,isengaging
withthecommunityhavinganopenevening
and letting themknowabout it andcanyou
say“rightwedidthisandsignedover”.
Butbecausethemineswheregoingdoingit,the
forumwassetupthoughtheminestherewas
acoupleworkingthey’reinvolvedinitandthen
basicallyallthe(.)anyorganisationintheparish
was set a letter about it. Saying come to the
meeting for a committee tobe setup, chair set
thewholelotandwecontinuedonthensince.
Importanceofplanningincreatingengagement.Questionswhatengagementis.Miningworkerswherethefirsttobeconsulted.Useofexistingstructurestoinitiatetheconsultation
I: Would you think that the way they did the
engagementwithmeetingsandanyinformation
theyleafleteddoyouthinkthatwaseffectiveor
….?
T: Beneficial like? Yeah it was yeah. Look I’v
beenat thatone ivbeenat theextension, Iwas
at the Bord NaMóna one. Look it’s the same
thing I mean like, you can go in and see
where they’re going, how its going to affect
whatever’saroundyouem:whatitsgoingto
look like. There’s not much more they can
tellyoureally.
RespectsthenatureofthemeetingsEngagedpublicRepetitiveashe'sbeentothreeofthem.
100
I:Yeah()..
T: Now there are probably other places that
went up that haven’t gotten the colour of
money where getting. Because maybe the
committeewassetup ina strongerway,the
reasonwhyarecommitteeisasstrongasitis(.)
was it was directly involved with the mines.
Whereas thedevelopers (.) theBordNaMónas
theymightn’tputthesameeffort into it. Idon’t
know.Maybetheywillmaybetheywont.
Indigenoustypologies:theyaredoingalotbetterthenotherareasthathadwindfarmsplacedinthem.Thecommitteewasstrongerasitwasdirectlyinvolvedwiththeminesthoughsomeoftheirworkers.Whereothercompanieswouldn’tputasmucheffortin.Equatesstrongcommunityorganisationto–monetarybenefits
I: And do you know of any further plans or
anythingthatwillcontinue?
T: There is a planning permission got for
another8or9,Lisheen3they’recallingit.It’s
the far side of the Bord Na Móna one. So
whenever that goes ahead I don’t know. You
knowwiththewindcapacity.
Anotherexpansionofthecurrentwindfarminplanningstagesalready.Verytechnicallyknowledgeable
I:Butyouwheresayingthatbetweenstageone
and stage two that the protesters for the first
phaseactuallybecamelessinthesecond.
T:Therewasnoprotestthesecondtime.Some
oftheprotestershadturbinesputontheirland.
I:Ok(.)sotheyrealisedthebenefit.
T:Well they (.) ha ha (.) they realised the
Arguesthelackofconflictinthesecondstageistodowith
101
benefit but I suppose you can say, they
realisedthebenefitandtheywerebenefiting
from itbut(.)Maybethewholefearandstigma
andeverything (.) look it these turbines areup
there. Look when they where being put up
initially there was nearly an audience
watching the first few going up.And the last
12seemedtojustspringup,youknowyoujust
become oblivious to it like. Before you would
alwaysgetupandbelookingatthemattheturn
of theday.But sure you get upnowand you
don’tevenseethem.Youknowandlookitthe
peoplethatturnedfromobjectorstohavingiton
their land (.)maybe they just saw them for
whattheywhereratherthenallthispublicity
andbadpublicity.
theoverwhelmingbenefitstobothcommunityandthemselves.LiftingoffearNolongerhasasocialstigmaattachedtoit.Ashepreviouslymentionedassocialpressureinvolvedinthefirstphase.Notinterestingtothelocalsanymore.PartoflifeMovingpastexternalknowledge–towardspersonalexperience.Firsthandexperience-key
I:Doyouthink(.)didtheychallengeitincourts
ordidtheygotoanyofthehearingsoranything
likethat?
T: I don’t think they did. It would be (.) they
objected and I would think (.) I think they got
planning permission then and I wouldn’t think
that it went back to An Bord Pleanala or
anything.I'mnot100%sureoranything.I’mnot
sure.Butem:itdefiantlydidn’tgoallthewayup.
But they (.) I suppose maybe it wasn’t the
objectors but initially 18went up. I think they
would have been looking for planning for 20.
Therewas twoof them(.)the nearest two, to
someofthehouseswheretakenoutofitand
permissiongivenforthe18.
Veryinformedbutonthespecificplanningalterationshe'suncertain.Importanceofpositioningagain.
102
I: So the interaction with the community did
actuallyamendthereplanssomewhat.
T: Well whether it was the interaction or
whether itwas the planning said their house. I
don’tknow. Idon’tknow.Theywheredefiantly
thetwothatwheregoingtobenearanyofthose.
I: So as a communitymember you knewabout
thelegalstipulationsabouthavingtoparticipate
withthecommunity..
T:Yeah.
I:butdoyouthinkeveryoneelsehadthatkind
of..
T:Iwouldn’tthinksono.
I:No?
T:Well Ionlyknewabout itbecausethemines
approached us to set up this committee like.
Other then that I don’t know if there’s a
development starting wherever (.) down in
Clonmeentomorrow.Dotheyactually(.)Isthe
informationevenenoughtosayyouengaged
withthecommunityordotheyhavetosetup
acommittee?Idon’tknow.
(Relative enters the kitchen) Hello where
CommunityisanengagedcommunityhoweverhisviewuninformedabouttheEIAprocess.Becauseoftheearlyconsultationhewasmoreinformed.Questionsthelevelsofparticipationneededtohaveengagedwiththecommunity.
103
invadingyourspace.Howareyou!?()
I:Yousaidthatinitialgroupwas30people,did
they (.) is it still the same number deciding a
thing..
T:Well (.) we probably had (.) howmany had
welastnight?Wemighthavehad20.Wehada
meeting (.) you see (.) are community forum
wassetuptodealwithanissuewiththisand
thendoubledupasissueswiththemines.So
other then (.)wewouldmeet a couple times a
year and we would met with the mines as
regardswiththeclosure.Otherthenthedishing
outofthemoney(.) there’sprobablynotingfor
thecommitteetodo.Inrelationtotheturbines.
I:Ahok.
T:Soitsortofservestwopurposesforus.Now
lookitifthecommunitygetsupandgetsatit
(.)andtheycanusethatcommitteeforother
stuff as well. Like you know. But it did server
twopurposes forusas I said. If itsonly todeal
with the dishing out of the money. Its only a
couple of meetings you know. Send out the
application forms, give out the money and
putupwiththefightsafterthatlike(.)Ha.
Stablestructure–stillhighturnoutsfordecisions.Evolvedfromitsoriginalrole–goodforcommunity.Mobilisedcommunitiescanbothdefendtheirqualityoflifeandimproveonit.Theyareusedtocompaniescominginandtakingrawresourcesoutoftheirlocality.
I: That will go on for the foreseeable future I
suppose?
104
T: Its either 15 years or 20 years or the life of
the turbines. If they took them down or
whatever, the money would cease like. I think
there’s 20 years. Even 20 years, the turbines
aren’tgoingtogoawayhere.Theywillprobably
take themdown and a 4megawattwhere they
hada2megawatt.Likeyouknow.
Longtermperspective.Expectationsofupgrades.
I: Yeah that’s true actually. They keep making
thebetter.Yousaidthepeoplethatdisagreedat
the start they (.) what exactly was there main
issuewithit?
T: Idon’tknow.Idon’tknow.Em:Sureyouhad
everything from. They where afraid the fact
that it was going over the mine, that the
ground wouldn’t support them and rubbish
inmymind.Looktheyhavethewholeflicker
and the noise thing but (.) it was going to
ruin their views and there parish and this
thatandtheother.Idon’tknow.Idon’tknow.
Fears–overblown.Almostcontemptforthemisplacedfears.
I: Because aesthetically, like you know (.) you
seetheminthedistanceandyoudon’tseemto..
T: Well look they don’t bother me. Its like
anything,ifyouhaveanissuewiththemand
your looking at them every day it will give
youapaininyourheadifyouthinkitsgoing
togiveyouapainintheheadlike.D’yaknow,
it’sthesameasifaphonemastgoesupover
there.Youknow,“ohIhaveanawfulpainin
UseofmetaphortogethispointacrossNotestheirrationalnatureofman.Ifyoubelievethatsomethingisbotheringyouitwillbotheryou.Evenifitsnottrue.
105
my head every time that turns on”. And its
not evenpowered like.Youknow. So looka
lotofitcanbeintheheadlikeyouknow.
I:Yeah.
T: Now I know look there may have been
agendaswithpeople.Iknowonefellaupthere.
He was very staunch against it and he was
looking for planning permission for a house at
thetime.Hehaditviewedbythecountycouncil
andnext thingthecouncilgavehimpermission
for a turbine whatever half a mile from his
house.Looktherewasagendasallover.You’ll
alwayshavethatlike.Youknow.
I:YeahIknow.
T:Sowhatwheretheirworries,Idon’tknow.
Agendasnotedagain!2ndE.g.ofmanwhochangedhisviewafterhemanagedtogetplanningpermissionforaturbineonhisland.
I:Sotheyweren’treallythatmajorIsuppose?
T: Well look it, beauty is in the eye of the
beholder,likeyouknow(.)haha
ASTETHICS
I: Another interesting part of this project was
thatitwentupsoquicklywithoutthatmuch..
T:Youknowitwasn’tmassivelike.
I:AcrossallofEuropeyouhavegroupsofpeople
protesting heavily, even in countries like
106
Denmarkwhohavebeendoingitforalongtime
andtheystillhaveissues.
T:Wouldtheyasmuch?
I: They still have as much objections yeah, I
knowanindividualthatworksintheparliament
systemandtheygetcomplaintsallthetime.
T:Like thiswentupandthe fact thatallotof it
wason (.) I think the initial oneswason (.)no
privatelands.ItwaseithermineslandorCoillte
land, forestry. So none of them went up on
privateland.Andtheminesthenownedthisbig
(.) couple of thousand acres. So there was
nobody(.)andeventhepeople livingnearest it
where on the sunny side of it so they where
never going to have the flicker effect. And they
tookawaythetwothatwherenearestthem.
So like themines had this big lock of land and
you had a big stretch of bog there to
Templetuohy.Sothat’swhytherewasnomajor
(.) other then this groupuphere like. Itwasn’t
the case that everyone all around them got
togetherandobjectedtothemlikeyouknow.It
was because itwaswhere itwas situated. And
it’sthesameIthinkforanything.
BordNaMónanowarelookingtoputupaheap
of them.But thereputtingthemup inbigareas
where its sparsely populated. Like are they
going to have objectors. You know this whole
Differenceofphaseonebeingbuiltonstateland.Whilethesecondstagewasbuildonprivateland.Naturallandscapemadetheprocesseasier.Lesspopulatedareas.Majorstateenergycompanyexpandingwindfarms.
107
thingupthemidlandsthen.Theywheregoingto
export the power to the UK, there was what a
onehundredorsomethingturbines.
MediainIrelandlikemanycountrieshavebeendebatingthewindfarmdevelopments.ConflictColonialconnotations.
I:YeahIthinkitwassledgedtobethebiggestin
Europe.
T: Sure they where up in arms “where not
gona”,“alltheseturbines”.ButsureIsawthe
planning for it like and theywhere in little
pockets. Twas in five counties from Kildare,
Offaly, Laois, maybe some of Tipperary, West
Meath.Sotheywheregoingtobepocketsof10
and 12 there wasn’t going to be one hundred
turbines up like, you know.And yet people got
thisbigthingof“oh::onehundredturbineswhat
are we going to do”. Look (.) I don’t know
peopleareentitledtoobjectlike.Butarethe
legitIdon’tknow.
Amajoroneplannedinthecentreofthecountry.Therealitywasthattheywherespreadacross5counties.Perceptionofthedevelopmentdrivingobjections.Hequestionsthevalidityoftheseobjectionswhentheyarebasedonmisinformationindividuals.Importanceofearlyengagementandinformation.
I:I'mhopingtovisitotherpeopleintheareaand
itsmostlyabouthowthereexperiencestufflike
what theydid.And it’s trying to tie in all these
issuesthatareacrosstheboard.
T: Yeahwell therewas really a differencewith
the first ones being put up. They where being
put up on a Sunday morning or something,
whatever way those fellas work seven days a
weekbut.Therewasanaudiencelike.Andthe
Differencebetweenthebeforeandafterengagementthoughtheparishforum.
108
last twelve just seemed to, just like a
mushroom.LiketheyputthemupinIsuppose
threeorfourdayswhenthey’reatitlike.Itjust
ohthere’sanotheroneofthem.
I: So do you think the community just slowly
becamecompletely….
T:Ah:::they’reusetoit.
Institutionalisation–behavioursbecomingroutinizedandhabitual.
I:Justnormal,factoflife?
T:That’sitlike.Thenagainyouwillhear(.)the
planningwasprobablydone rightnow.There’s
nonof themverynearhouses.You’llseeplaces
where theres a big cable up behind yeah, and
thereaturbinespinningupthere.Youknowit’s
at your doorstep like. I don’t know if theywill
movetheminimumdistanceI thinkfromthe
500mto700m.
I:Yeahtheguidelinesareunderassessment.
T: Yeah, so look it. Id say if they went to
moving it out to 1000m it would solve an
awful lot ofproblems.Likeyouknow(.)even
the one (.) I don’t know did you drive into the
entranceofthemines?(.)intothemones?
I:Wedidyeah.
T:Yeahdoyouknowwhereyouturnintheroad
andthere’sgatesandthereisaturbineinonthe
Mentionsplanningdonerightagain.Minimumdistances–currentlyunderreviewinIreland–beendelayedforyearsduetothecontentiousnessandpoliticalfactorsatplay.Anupcominggeneralelectionstalledtheprocess.
109
left?Yougoinalittlefurtherandyourmeetinga
turbineonyourrightandtheofficeblockishere
(gestures to its location). So the car park is
basically there in the mines. All the times that
turbine there is always have been on or
whatever and you would walk in across and
scarcely hear it. That one if you where in the
offices at 9 o clock in themorning, the flicker
comessavagenow.Butinthespaceofanhour
meeting.IrememberthefirsttimeIsaidcorked
it.
IwasinameetingIwasfacingthesunthere
and I was wondering what was that like.
Flicking (.) Flicking (.) Flicking (.) and next
thingIsaidokthat’s(.)andwegotonwithit
and then I said to myself “where did that
go?”. It was gone like.Doyouknow itmoved
around. But that one creates flicker, the one
that’s just out the road (.) and its probably (.)
what is it out? Its probably 400, 500 or 600m
out. That one creates no flicker. You know and
again I would think that it’s down to the low
lyingland.Whereaviewofthemallonabrowof
ahillgoingacrossyeah,therealwaysgoingtobe
above you. I think if planning is done right,
and they areput in areaswhere they aren’t
imposedonhouses
I:Thattheywouldn’t..
T: I don’t see an issue with it like you know.
Maybeotherpeoplewillbut.
Experienceoftheflickereffectforthefirsttime.Oneofthecontentiousissues.PLANNING–
110
I: So your saying if the planning becamemore
robustthatmaybetheywouldn’thavetoengage
inasmuchparticipation?
T:No,nowell.Theywouldn’t..
I:Theystillwillbut..
T:Theystillwillbuteh:theyneedn’t impinge
uponpeopleasmuch like.Youknowthere’s
Jesus hundreds of thousands of acres of
wilderness like you know. But then again
everyonehasdifferentopinions.Iwastalking
toafriendofminewholivesontheothersideof
the parish. And he would be a farmer and
everything else but he says there’s enough of
them around. You know, many more would
destroy the landscape. Yeah know its just
anotheropinion.
Isplanningtheonlyanswer?Howpeopleexternalisethereownsocialworldswillmakethemhavequitedifferentpositionsonculturalideassuchaswilderness.Landscape
I: Iwasjustthinkingsoyoupersonally(.)what
did you get from participating? Are you happy
or?
T: Em personally, sure im involved in a lot of
different organisations and everything from
schools to the church to the GAA to the, you
knowtheyallbenefitfromit.Anditsfundraising
that a club or parish doesn’t have to do. The
only gain is the financial gain for a parish
like.Ifwedidn’tgetthecontribution,youcan
talk about green energybut like, youknow,
who cares where they are producing green
VeryinvolvedDrivetobenefithiscommunityStrongstatement–financialtopofpriorities.Thiscanbetiedintothesocialandhistoricalpositionofthevillage.Benefittingthecommunityismoreimportantthentheenvironmentonamacro
111
energy. They don’t have to be in your back
yard. Unless there is a financial gain for a
communitythereisnobenefitforthembeing
there.
level.Hedoescareforhisenvironment–butthereisalimit.
I: So even if they completely engagedwith the
community but didn’t have some financial you
wouldn’tgetanythingoutofit?
T:Givingyougreenenergy(.) sure likewho
careslike.Youknowlikeitdependsonwhat
peoples (.) you know if they are there and
theyareimpingingonyou(.)ifthereisagain
for you parish fine and dandy but if there’s
not. You know people will object and just
wontwantit.
I: Yeah this is one of the biggest issues in the
wholediscussion.
T:Yeah.
I:Engagement.
T: Again it’s the gain then for the community,
which is the thing like. If there is no gainwhy
would you bother with it like, if it is effecting
you.Wellifthere’sagaineveryonewins.
Reasoningonbenefits.Barteringsystemimpingementonpeople=benefitfortheparish?=ifnot–rejection/objectionFunding/benefit/driveAnothermentionofgainandbenefitforthecommunity.
Temporaryrecording issues–startsbacka few
minuteslater.Withadiscussionaboutthethird
112
windfarminthearea.
T:SowhenBordNaMónastartedthentheyhad
aninformationevening,arecommitteewentasa
group. We went and we saw the posters and
everythingelse.Weapproachedthemasagroup
sayingyourputtingupturbinesinareparishwe
asagroupwanttoengagewithyou.Andwegot
nocontactwiththem,zero.
I:Really?
T: Em:thedevelopmentdidn’tgoasquickasit
was thought it was so it was dragged out and
dragged out. And we actually put in a
submission in there planning to make them
contribute to whatever fund whatever amount
we got. But it actually missed the date. Or the
dateswheremissedsoaresubmissiondidn’tgo
in. But yet probably sixmonths later eh: there
wasa(.)thisfellaImightputyouintouchwith
him JohnHogan. Hemetwith a BordNaMóna
fella.IwasonTippFMactuallyandyourman
accused the Bord Na Móna fella of not
engagingwithus.“Yourjustcominginhereand
doingwhatyouwant”.Shortly after that then
theycamebacktousandtheycameupwith
this contribution. So theway they set it up is
different ours is, our one is (.)we give out the
money but its administered by the county
council. So the county council has to rubber
stampeverythinginregardstoplanning.
Thissectionhasanotherexperiencewithparticipationhoweveritisnottheprimaryfocusoftheresearch.3rdwindturbinedevelopment.NotLisheenForum–drivetogetmoneyoutofthisnewdevelopmentSignsthateffectiveparticipationcanhavebeneficialknockoneffectsthatwherenotintended.Usedlocalmediaandtheirlocalrepresentativetomanipulate/pressurethecompanyintogivingthecommunitybenefits.Fundingisadministeredbythecountycouncilbuthavetorubberstamptheredecisions.Itseemstheredeliberativedemocraticworks
113
I:Thedecisions?
T: Yeahwell they cant change are decisions
butyettheyhavetorubberstampthem.Bord
Na Móna is different Bord Na Móna are
administeringthereown.Nowtheywouldhave
thesamecriteria,youhavetohaveplanningyou
cantjustputupstuffbutthetwofundsarebeing
run differently but the set up the initial
engagement run differently aswell. They came
and theyput theposters andall and thengone
like.Anduntilabitofpressurewentonthem
then there was nothing. Now look maybe
they where going to do it anyway, I don’t
know. But you know there wasn’t a huge
amount(.)hahaha(.)comingfromthem.
I:Yeah.
T: Yeah so if they had gotten away with it,
maybe they wouldn’t have contributed like
youknow.
WithLisheen.Twofundsduetotheothercompany.Inthisexperiencetheyhadhadposterputupandtheyhadnointeractionwiththem.Theyapproachedthem.Eveninthissmallareatherearehugedifferencesinparticipationapproachestakenbythedifferentcompanies.
I:Because it isreallyclose, itblends intophase
one,Ithink.
T:Itdoesyeah.
I:Ithoughtthatwasphaseone(.)haha.
T: No you wouldn’t think that they where
different.
114
I: Then I thought there was too many wind
turbinesthere.
T: Yeah like there are three different wind
turbinefieldsassuch.
I:Soundslikeyoudidwelloutofitanyway?
T: Wedidyeah,moneywise.There’sjobsas
well I suppose. There could be (.) there’s
probably one, two fellas working there, four
fellas, five fellasworkingupthereontheactual
windturbinesthemselves.That’sitthen.
Money–alotJobs-notmany
I: Do you think if you didn’t have any sort of
involvementinitthat, letssayyouwhereliving
orworked in a different job then do you think
you would have been annoyed seeing them
springingup?
T:Em:Iwouldhaveseenthem(.)astheywent
up I would have seen them as possibility of
getting a job out of them. Maybe not like, but
eitherway, eitherway theyneverbotheredme
like.YouknowIthinkthey’reelegantlooking
as opposed to intrusive. Tis down to
everyone’sopinionisn’tit.
HypotheticalQ–Hecouldhaveviewedthemaspossibilityofajob,
I:Yeahexactly.
T: Ill ring that fella and see he might actually
have a littlemore information on the planning
Helpingmewithgettingintouchwithanotherpossibleinterviewee.(Snowballsampling)
115
endofit.
I: Yeah that would be a great help, or anyone
else that would be (.) you know I only need a
threeorfourmorepeopleandyouknowIcould
go knocking on doors but if you knew anyone
because your in the council. Even names and
contact details would be great. It also helps to
havelocalstotalktothembefore.
T:Yeahyeah,yeah.
I: Because I am just some random person to
them.
T:Yeahthat’sityeah.
I:Iwasjustthinkingthatthereknockingonyour
doorthinkingisthistherightdoor.
T:Hahahahaha.
I: And thedirectionswherebeside ahousebut
notthathouseonewithtwostories.
T:Yeah,yeah
Generalchitchatandsmalltalk.
I: I was hoping to do something in this area. I
was originally interested in the bogs and the
wind turbines. You knowBordNaMóna is not
veryenvironmentallyfriendly.
116
T:Yeah.
I: Burning all the peat, industrial level turf
burning you know. And also destroying certain
environments. Its interesting when you have a
company like this that goes from that to
renewable energy I assume that’s going to be
thereendplan.
T: Well it is like, the whole renewable; they
havethousandsofacresofthereownlandto
put themin.ButasIseeituphere,uphereall
the bogs are nearly cut out but id say where
talkinginagoodyeartheytake(.) I thinkthey
lowerthebogbetweenafootand18inchesa
year. So and I remember about 15whenwe
where walking across those bogs and they
where putrid wet. Now the mines have the
wholeareadrainedat theminuetandyou’d
walkacross thatbognowin thewinternow
inapairofboots.Whereaswhenthemines
stoppumpingnow,Irecontheregoingtobe
an absolute sea ofwater. There going to be
flooded like.Youknowso theregoing tohave
(.)youseetherechangingthelandscapeand
then suddenly there into green energy like.
Hahaha.
Environmentaldamagecausedbytheturf(peat)cuttingpracticesincethe1930s.Miningalsocauseddegradationandalterationstothelandscape.BordNaMonaVeryawareoftheenvironmentalcontradictionsinthiscase.Mininghasalteredthelandscapedestroyedecosystemsandwillagainalteritallagainwhentheystoppumping.Notesthehypocriticalnatureofswitchingfromdirtyminingtogreenenergy
I: Yeah Iwas looking at this area, and also the
midlandsofIreland.
T:Yeah,yeah.
I: Basically like part battle ground part (.)
117
basically with out all these developments we
would never reach are targets and thenwould
endupgettingfined.
T:Thatthenthewholeotherargument,likeit’sa
subsidisedindustryyouknowyoutakeawaythe
subsidiesdoesitstandalonethenonitsownlike
(.)somesay itdon’t.Sonowyourputting them
up would you be as well off paying the fines
insteadofspendingmillionstogetthemupbut
there still not viable to stand up on there own
likeyouknow.SoIsupposetheflipsideofthat
is you may as well up them up rather then
payingfines.Don’tknow.
EconomicperspectiveasTurbinedevelopmentissubsidisedbythestate–Notestheneedforadvancingtheturbinesbutquestionstheeconomicvalidity
I:Butyeah(.)ifyoucouldputmeincontactwith
anyonethatwouldbegreat.
T:Yeahilltrythemtwofellasandsureifyouget
themtwoofthem.
I:JohnHoganand..
T: Yeah John and Richy Daly. And sure your
aroundforthenextcoupleofdays?Weekend?
I:Illbeherefortheweek.Sowheneveritsuits.
EndofRecording:InterviewEnds
118
10.2.2.QualitativeCodingoftheIn-depthinterviewwithRichardDaly-
Farmer,landowner(Moyne)inwhich5windturbinesarelocated,
FormerleaderofcomplaintsagainstLisheenPhase1
andmemberoftheParishForum.
I:Interviewer
R:RichardDaly
Transcription Coding
I: As I said earlier on I doing it on the wind
turbines basically here and it’s in two phases
here. You probably had different experiences
herewiththedifferentphasesbutIdjustliketo
firstlyaskyouasalocalwhoisinvolvedinthis,
howdidit(.)whendidyoufirsthearaboutit?
R:When we first heard about it, right, as you
quiterightlysaidtherewastwophases.Thefirst
phase was the Lisheen Mines themselves ah,
wanted to put up the turbines themselves. My
recollectionwasthattheywantedtoputup22,
initially(.)butahplanningcriteriaandwhatever
ahendedputtingup18.SoandtheywhereupI
suppose four or five years and they had the
capacity on the grid, so they said sure look-it.
We may as well increase it, so they put on
another 12 and then I think there is a couple
more,BordNaMónaputupanother14turbines.
They would be quite larger, they would be 3
kilowattsisit.Yeahsothat’sprettymuchit.
I:Soyou,didyouhearaboutitin2008orwasit?
119
R:Yeahaboutthatyeah,2008yeah.
I: And did you em did they give you, did you
receiveitthoughwordofmouthordidyougetit
in note in the letterbox? How did you find out
aboutit?
R:Ehhowdidwereallyfindoutaboutit?Iknew
it was in there plans, eh that they had extra
capacity. That was always theway.When they
put up the eh (.) initial ones therewas always,
they came down to local in the (.) I think by
part of there planning they had to contact
locals in the immediate (.) close to the
vicinityof it.So itwassittingdown like this
inakitchenandweaskedthemthequestion
likeifyougetplanningpermissionforthe18
or22at the timewill therebea capacity to
put up more? And they quite rightly said
yeah, because the mine has degraded and it
makesmoresenselikeyeah.Itwasalwaysinthe
back ofmyhead that theywanted to put them
up. Its not that some one came, “oh here we
wanttoputthemuptoday”youknow.Itwasin
the back of mymind that they where going to
extenditlike.
First being informed of the
proposeddevelopment.
Was aware of the capacity
available fromthe firstphase
participation.
Didn’t see any physical signs
on the road or anything like
that but heard about it first
through contact with the
companyinthegroup.
First engagedwhen the local
community was asked to
partakeinthecommittee.
I:Ok(.)butthenwhenitcametoitdidyougoto
120
anyof thesemeetings,whentheengagementof
the contractors/development did they run any
localinformationevents.
R:Well not the contractors, I suppose it has to
take different steps. All they have to do, you
know look for planning permission. Get the
whole project together right and then it goes
planning (.) but before it actually went to
planning (.) eh during parts of the planning
there was I think one if not two public
meetings. So it was at that then when you
heard everyone else’s views. And I know
initially because there hand been no turbines,
initially there was allot of questions where
askedbecauseitssomethingnew.Sotherewasa
bit of ah:: I wouldn’t say negativity but there
wascertainlyanawfullotofah::(.)questions
asked that needed to be asked and which
were answered. Its notuntil there actuallyup
(.)youknowweallthoughtthiswasgoingto
be shocking and noise and the flicker (.)
whatever but no they slipped in handy enough
like. It was part probably the unknown really.
Youknowandthat’swhytherewassomuch..
Outcomesofparticipation
No turbines had been build
herebeforeLisheenphase1.
Usesthetermnegativity.
Questionsneedinganswers.
They where perceived as
being potentially terribly
noisy and the flicker would
disturbeveryone.
FearoftheUNKNOWN
I: Sobeforetheyhadthesemeetingsyouwould
say that most people kind of either (.) they
wouldn’teitherbeprooragainstbuttheywould
beabitworried?
R: Certainly worried yeah. Defiantly yeah.
Because look it, any information is so
RoleoftheMedia.
Notes the accessibility of
information as a reason for
121
accessible and it’s so easy to get here and
read about the bad news story of wind
turbines breaking or going on fire or
whatever like you know what I mean. So
basically (.) it justneeds toknow.Theywhere
new (.) new to the area there its like
anywherewhen they come in new. Because
in fairness they are quite tall and you know
you’llseethem..
I:Yeahyeah.
R:After living inherenow (.) ah surewehave
been living here since 2000 right so say 15
years. Sowe can see (.) wewhere here before
the turbines and we were here for the
construction of turbines and were here
obviouslywhentheturbinesaregoing.Andlook
it(.)I’vethreechildrenanddoyouknowwhatI
mean, itsnot that I’mgoingtodoanythingthat
would be (.) that they’ll have health reasons
from these turbines orwhatever. So look, sure
they’re as good as any other kit around the
place. There’s no ill effects basically in
regards to health and that becausewewould
be (.) the turbine in themines I think is about
600metersfromthehouse.AndIthinkthemid
post on the one here is about 580 again or
something like that.Like580or600. I think its
slightly closer. Now it could be open for
discussionaboutthatoneallright.Likeifyou’re
sittinghereaswelllike,bar…
the negativity. Bad news
stories.
Fear
The community hadn’t
processed there arrival yet.
They had not yet ben
institutionalisedyet.
Notpartofeverydaylifeyet.
Reaction to an external
threat. – counterwith earlier
engagement?
Personal grounding for
position against the turbines
inthecase.
Family – Health – concerns
about the effect of the
turbines.
Eventually found that these
whereunfounded.
122
I: Ididn’tevennotice it,hahaha. (hepointsout
the 5 turbines outside the window of the
kitchen)
R:No,no,illtellyeahyouhavetopinpointitso.
They’re there and they’re there working and
today of all days if you want to hear it, it’s a
perfect day to hear it. I know you have other
noisesinthebackground.We’llsay(.)withwind
and trees and whatever. But even on a calm
day now you’d hear the birdswhistling and
otherbits(.)naturewouldactuallycarryon
asnormal,likeyouknow.
I: I tried to listen to one of them actually, the
other field further over there to hear it but it
wascompletelysilent.
R: In fact now you’d have to go an awful lot
closer (.)with in say150m - 80myou’dhear a
whooshnoise,butlookitthatit.
I:Yeah, Iwaswonderingthese(5turbines)are
built on your land though, these are the lands
youfarmandworkon?
R:Yes.Yeah,yeah.
Itshardtohear
Virtuallynoimpactonnature.
They act is if there is no
difference.
Needtobeveryclose
I: Ok so do you think that they (.) the
development,thatyouhadmoreofaroleinthe
kindof(.)whatwasyouactualroleifyouthink
aboutit…
R: Ok so fromgreen field right so, if you could
RESPECT
123
take it that you’re the contractor and I’m the
farmer. Sooutofrespect youcan’t just come in
androaroverandtellmewhattodoandallthis.
So there’s proper consultation and in fairness
like even the practical things when they’re
sayingwhere theroad isgoingorwhatever. I’d
have water troughs and water fittings and
electric currents going to stock cattle. They
worked with me. Do you know if there was
anything broken, they would fix it and I’d tell
themwhere it was or whatever. But it was all
excellentwhere(.)becauseof the5 that’swere
on this farm we were able to jig around the
layout of the fields. Because yeah know the
roadwaywascominginandtherewasactuallya
crossroad down there and there was another
couple of bits of roadway built on this farm so
wewhereabletoworktogetheronit.
Considerate of his farming
practicesandinvolvedhimin
thedecisionsinregardstothe
buildingofaroad.
His feeling is that his
involvement made a
difference in the hands on
decisions.
Veryhelpful
I:Soyouhadaroleinthedecisionmaking…
R: Yeah, Yeah. Definitely yeah. Yeah on the
ground like.Youknowtherewasalwaysgoing
to be a road coming in its in the planning
permissionbut.Justtojigitaround.Iknowthey
had an impact statement on a badger sett and
the road had to bemoved out fromwhere the
badgerswere. Look itwith the bestwill in the
world I would have preferred if the road was
tuckedinniceandneatbesidetheditchbutlook
it there’s badgers there we worked around it
andthat’s it likeyeahknow.Soyeahlittlething
likethattheywereverygoodlike.
EIA–protectionofbadgers
No real interruption to his
work.
124
I:Betweenlike2009andthefirstphaseandthe
secondphasewouldyou say theydid the same
(.)wellwhatwastheparticipationlevelifthere
wasadifferencebetweenthetwo?Doyouthink
more peoplewhere engaged or the community
wasengaged?
R: You see in the firstphase rightpeople (.) it
was the unknown really. This was something
new coming in right. So second phase then
people realised that theywhere running for
five years or whatever four or five years
maybe itwasmoreI forget.Sotherewasmore
acceptance then for the second phase. Because
people (.) there was actually as far as I can
rememberIdon’tthinktherewasanyobjection
at all for the second phase. Therewas nothing
thatwenttoAnBordPleanála,no.Isupposethe
locals saw that at least there’s a couple of
local farmers (.) getting somebenefit out of
it,whichwouldbe goingback into the local
(.) anywaybecausewhere living in the local
andall this so.Yeahtherewasno,verylittleif
anyobjection at all to the secondphase vs. the
first one.There was more concerns because
oftheuncertaintyoftheunknown.Thatwas
itlikeyeah.
Time and experience turns
theturbinesintoaconstantin
there understanding of the
socialworld.
As people are continuously
creating their shared
understandingofrealitythere
isroomforchangeinopinion.
Thereisdefinablyatemporal
element to this as the
experience plus time
drasticallyalteredhisviews.
I: You’d say that they probably did the
participation involving the community to the
same amount or? You had more of a role
125
obviouslybecauseofitbeingyourland.
R: But apart from that I wouldn’t like you to
ehhh: () (.) upset anyone either! You know
whatImean.We’relivinginacommunityand
asbestwill in theworldwe’d like to get on
witheverybodyaswellaswecould,wedon’t
like to upset people. But in fairnesswe have
anotherfarmacrosstheroadbut(.)calleddairy
blockandwewhereapproachedtoputaturbine
on that farm butwith are viewwe said look it
we though it might impact to much on are
neighbours.Because itsmorepopulatedover
(.) on the farm across the road.Wedeclined
on thatoffer toputa turbineover there.Sowe
putupfiveturbineshereandbothneighbouring
farmersputuponeaswell.
I:Ok.
R: It didn’t interfere (.) its kind of a isolated
block of land down here like it wouldn’t be
populatedbyanymeans.
I:Justyourselves.
R: Just ourselves like yeah and neighbouring
farmers.Lookitsuitedtoputthemupherewith
out any hassle or whatever like vs. getting
greedyaboutitifyoulikeputtinguponeonthe
home farm, itwould probably be running a bit
tooclosetohouseholds.Sothatwasthedecision
wetook,thatwasit.
Community minded -
cohesionisimportant.
Avoidanceofconflict
Thegreatother
- Greed = adding an
extraattheexpenseof
alocalanger.
Large area of private farm
land was a good location for
thosespecificturbines.
126
I:Youmentionedthebadgersetthingthere.Did
youknowaboutthefullimpactassessment?The
environmentalimpactassessments?
R:See funnyenoughtherewasguys itwas like
dark () when they would be coming in they
might come across something of reference or
whatever.To be honest with you its not my
area of expertise so who was I to question
what course theywould be digging.But that
with the badges, I knew there was always
badgers there. But funny enough there hadn’t
been badger there at that sett for a good few
years. But unfortunately id say I was unlucky
enough,arabbitorsomethinghadbeenlivingin
itthereorafoxcleaneditsoitlookedtotheguy
that (.) and the date when he was doing he’s
study he though that there was defiantly a
badger in it. And there hasn’t been a badger
theresince.Therewouldbeactuallythreeother
identified setts on this farm there. And the
departmentmonitorsthoseallthetimebutthey
nevermonitoredthatonebecauseitwasadead
setlikeyouknow.Butlikethefactthatthewind
crowd, orwhatever youwant to call them saw
that itwasasettandthat theroadwascoming
quiteclose to it that’swhy theydecided topull
Aware of the specialists
expertisebut
Disagrees with the EIA
specialists – Badgers hadn’t
beenlivingthereinyears.
127
the road. Now that when I say it wouldn’t be
20m from it, but still it’s a slightly out then id
like but look where farming so we worked
aroundit.Itsfineyeah.
Em: there’s allot of other (.) I remember a
coupleof times theydidbats.TheycameinI
think it was 11 o’ clock at night and they sat
there till about 4, half 4 in the morning or
somethinglikethat.
Extensivesurveyingoffauna.
I:Listeningforbats?
R: Yeah itwas actuallyquite coolnow.But ah
justmeeting them and that. But then they also
regularlydobirdwatching.WhenIsayregularly
itmight be twice a year in allot of these come
downtothefarm.
I:Sotheysurveyit?
R:Theywouldandtheywouldbe(.) theyhave
tostudywhatbirdsareflyingaroundinthearea,
but theyarealso seeing if they foundanydead
ones.Tosee ifabirdhitsa turbineanddiesor
whatever.AsfarasIknowasalaypersonlike
myself.That’sall that Iseegoingon.Thatupa
coupleofyearsphasetwolikeyouknow.
I: So where they going to continue there
monitoring?
Isn’t informed when they
128
R:Idon’tactuallydon’tknow.AsfarasIknow
theyare.Ididn’thearanythinguntoward.Ithink
theyare.Idon’tmind.
I:Itdoesn’tbotheryou?
R: It doesn’t. Often some days you would be
herdingcattleorwhateverandyou’djustpullup
and have a chat “how are you getting on”. You
wouldnearlyrecognisefromthelasttime.Illbe
honest with you, we where hunting cattle the
otherdayandinfairnessoneofthegirlsactually
cameoutandgaveusahand.Thecalvesweren’t
goingareway.InfairnessthoughIhavetosay
they do respect the land owner asmuch as
werespectthosepeopledoingtherejob.You
knowwhatImean.Andinfairnesstothemon
servicescoming in theway theymightbe in
once or twice the month at the most, you
know what I mean maintenance is quite
minimalnow.Isupposeallotcanbedonefrom
inside in the main office in the mines or the
substationorwhateverlikeyeah.
makevisits
RESPECT–notedagain
I:Youknow(.)IinterviewedTimBerginandhe
wastellingmeaboutthecommunitygroupthat
wassetup.
R:Yes.
I: Following thedecision towell (.) the stipend
ofthemoneyyougetfromthewindturbines.Do
youhaveanyinvolvementinthat?
129
R:YeahI’mactuallyonthatcommittee,itscalled
the‘ParishForm’andwhenthemoneycomesin
itsactuallyfantasticbecauseI’minvolvedwith
an athletic club here in Moyne as well. And
eventhe localhall inMoyneandthenalsothe
money would have helped contribute to the
buildingoftheGAApitchandthedevelopment
of that. The hall in Templetuohy and the
church. Look it there’s 50,000 coming in
guarantiedfromtheseturbinesandthenthere’s
another 20,000 coming into the parish from
BordnaMóna turbines aswell.So it’s quite a
nicechuckofmoneylike.Butinfairnessthe
money that’s coming in is being well spent.
It’s not like there coming in and people are
goingonthepissorwhateveryouknowwhatI
mean.
I:Ofcourse.
Activecommitteemember.
Involved with the athletics
club.
Major capital developments
in a very rural area with a
smallpopulation.
Indigenous phrase:
(translation-wedon’tjustuse
the money on a night out
drinking.
R: They’re being used for good fantastic jobs
like. And especially (.) if you had time (.) its
gettingabitdarknowbuteventheathleticsclub
inMoyne..
I:I’veseenit,itsreallygood.Ivseenworstones
inDublin,itstentimesbetter..
R: Ah you would, yeah it is yeah. It’s a good
community spirit kind of effort, that got to
that level. It would probably have been done
regardless of the wind farm it defiantly would
New track at the athletics
club
The capital expenditure is
raisinglocalmoral
130
havebeendonebutcertainlyhavingmoneytake
thestingoutofit.Youknow, itcost€235,000
right.Wehad€60,000ofareownmoney,the
athleticclub.Andweborrowedanother170,000
odd. But having that money coming in at least
youcanbudget.Wehavealottogoingaswell,its
coveredthe loanbuttheplanistogetthis load
tobepaidoffquickly.Sobyhavingthisextrafew
quidcominginfromthewindfarm(.)Looknot
one club will get the full amount. Sure we
wheregetting10,000or15,000foracouple
of years and theywewould stand back and
let another club come in, you know what I
mean(.)withtherebitsandsoforthandsoon.
Itsspreadaroundanditsitsit’sagoodideanow.
Youknowwithgoodprojectsobviouslylike.
Being on that committee if someone came in
andsaid“isthereanychanceofacoupleofquid,
I want to put some new windows into my
house”, there’s not a hope in hell (.) you know
whatImeanitforcertaingoodprojectsandallot
ofthemoniestoisforsayiftheyhavedonethe
job the have to have the receipts so say if
something costs 20,000 atmost they would
getis10,000.Youknowwewouldn’tbeseen
to be funding the project 100%. So its an
incentive for each committee then towork. Do
you know what I mean, but still look it it
certainly take the sting out of it having this
moneycomeintotheparish.
Importantwhenyouconsider
rural populations moving to
moreurbancentres.
The wind turbine funding is
beinginvestedwell.
Dividedupfairlybetweenthe
different community clubs,
organisations,churchetc.
E.G of not using the money
badly.
No 100% funded projects
preventsmissuseofmoney.
ALl
131
I:This forum,did itexistbefore(.) inany form
beforethatorwas itactually thewindturbines
andthecommitteesresponsetothem?
R: Yeah, itwas (.) look it (..) therewas always
probablycommitteesthereIsupposeasregards
tomanagingthemoneyitobviouslywassetup
because of the wind turbines. But with the
Lisheen Mines across the road there was a
couple of projects where the LisheenMines
would have contributed heavily to a couple
of projects in the area as well. So there was
nearly a couple of guys say athletics stuff, GAA
andanothercoupleofcommitteesthatwhereall
talkingtogetheranyways.Soitwasjustamatter
of putting a proper brand over (.) the parish
forumcommittee.Headswherethinkingbefore,
youknowwhatcouldwedo,somethinglikethat
because. As far as I know the council inNorth
Tipperary would be unique as (.) when the
turbinesstartedoffinitially,Ithinkjeezthis
oneherecertainlycouldhavebeenoneofthe
first in North Tipperary. So the council were
lookingatustoseehowwewerereacting.And
the pros and cons of everything else going
forward,sotheyactuallytookaleafoutofour
book. When they saw how well this, the
community worked quite well together in
getting these sums ofmoney. So I think they
haveputit,theyhavedefinitelybecauseIknow
I’ve talked to the county councillor; haveput it
into place that any projects like this, that
therehastobesomuchthat’sgivenbackto
LisheenMineswhere already
activeinthecommunity.
Due to the number of clubs
with active committees It
aided thedevelopmentof the
forum.
Under scrutiny of the council
to see how the development
andparticipationplayedout.
Longtermeffectofthiscase
132
thecommunity.
I:Sothiswasoneofthelargest(.)orthetallest
turbinestobebuiltin2009.Soyouralsosaying
thatthishasbeenaddedtootherdevelopments?
R:Yeahdefinitely, Iknowdefinitely thecouncil
waslookinginandseeingwhatwaywe(.)itwas
managedbasically like.Andwhen they actually
(.)theyhavegivenusgreatcreditfortheway
it has been managed like. It’s nice to know
like.
Credit giving where credit
due.
Roleinsocietyreaffirmed.
I: Itsoneof thereasonswhyIvbeen lookingat
this,Iwaslookingatdifferentprojectsthatthey
where developed but this one that it was
developed so (.) it justwent up so quick Iwas
between 1 and 2 years since being back and
turbinesareeverywhereinanareathativbeen
wellusedtowhenIwasachild…
R: Yeah especially years ago, I know forme it
wasallotofbogandpeatgeneratedaroundthe
areayouknowso.Jeezwhen Iwasyoung the
roadwayguys youknow summer jobs going
down to Bord Na Móna but that kind of
fizzled out. Then you had the Lisheen Mines
and you seen the wind turbines happening.
There’s nearly something comes every
generationorwhereverlikeyouknow.Itshard
to know now the mines are on there last legs
withnearlyalltheorehavingbeentakenoutso
Historicperspective
Peatcutting–firstjobs
Theminesfollowed
- Turbinesnext.
Industryevolvingovertime.
Used to many companies
comingandgoing.
133
they’re (.) I know inside in there they are
kickingaroundtheideaofusingitasakind
ofa(.)centreofprettymuchexcellence.You
knowtheymightbringonahsolarpanelsand
allthiskindofthing.Useitaskindanenergy
hub, this area like do you know what I mean.
Look it they are toying aroundwith something
like that, an idea like that. If it happens it
happens. But if it happens I wouldn’t be
surprised because as I said something
happensnearlyevery20yearslikeyouknow
what I mean so. Yeah it’s unique in this area,
whetherisgeographicallylocatedwiseorwhere
(.)likethere’spower(.)everyturbineisturning
and the power is getting used. And as far as I
know if they hadmore power they would still
use it. Like you know. So it’s obviously been
placedforgoodcauses.
Progressintoaenergyhub
Seems confident that the
locality will keep innovating
newenergyresources.
Energydemand
I:Sodoyouthink,whatdoyouthinkyourem(.)
personally,doyoufeelyourparticipationhadan
impact,inthedevelopment?
R:Ahpersonallyphhhaa::
I:Youknowinyourexperience?
R:Myexperiencelookit.I'mfromtheareaso
like I suppose I’m certain look maybe it has
maybe it hasn’t. Some might say it has some
mightsayithasn’t.Lookit,idliketofeelithas.
Certainlywith local communities youknow,
and being part of the ‘Parish Forum’,
Hisroleintheparticipation.
134
allocating money every year is certainly you
know it’s nice to know there’s good jobs done
and the moneys been spent correctly like, you
knowwhatImean.Solookitidliketosee,I’m
notlookingforanycreditbutI’dliketoseeif
itwasdoneahappreciatedlikeyouknow.So
likeyeah,Ahhlookit.Yeah.I'mtoomodest.
Knowing that a good job is
beingdone
-
Once again feels good from
theworktobeappreciatedor
atleastacknowledge.
I: Ha ha yeah exactly it’s the typical problem
withIrishpeople.
R: Ha ha yeah now if I was a county
councillor id be blowing it up ohh:: yeah::,
yeah::yeah.
I:Hahahayeah.
R:Lookit it’sasmallcommunityandid like
to see it grow and you know its there for
whoever insists come behind us like you
know.
Idhate to seeevenwith themines that, if it
washandledwronglyorsomethingifwesaw
or heard that there was a bit of (.) damage
going on that effected the environment that
wouldupsetmealotmorelikedoyouknow
what I mean. Because it will effect the
generationstocomelikeyouknowso.
That’s why even wind turbines I know you
hear so much negative about them,
negativityaboutthembutlooktheydon’tkill
Notes the county councillor
here.Thereseemstobesome
localpoliticsatplay.Clashof
ideas.
Community growth and
generationaloutlook.
Environmentalprotection
Important that actions now
effectthefuturegenerations.
Notes the negative view of
turbines.(again)
135
anyoneandit’stheyearwherein,wehaveto
beproducinggreenenergiesyouknow.You
justmovewiththetimesthenafterthat.
Advancementofgreenenergy
isn’tupfordebate.
Movewiththetimes
I: Just quickly you mentioned they reduced it
fromwasit22to18
R:Ehyeah.
I:Orwasit20to18.Theyreducedtwoanyway.
They reduced it down to 18 from the original
plansforthefirstphase.
R:Yes.
I:Sodoyourememberwasiffromahearingor
wasitpeople…
R: I know that they had four definitely in
their initial plan eh: well initial draft. They
had fouron theway intoLisheenMineson the
left hand side. There’s one there now. But I
wouldsayfourwherenotgoingtoworkbecause
they where too close together. And so they
where gigged around. And I know they looked
for another one down the road there opposite
theguy(.)PatCaseybuthehadgoneinlooking
for planning permission I think a couple of
months before the wind turbines had gone in
looking for planning so that one was knocked
straightaway.Hehappenedtobejustinlooking
At the entrance of Lisheen
Mines – near on of the local
roads.
Existing planning permission
blockedone
136
for planning permission for his house. So that
onewas either knockedor gigged around.So I
don’t know. It took a couple of gigging a
roundstobeforetheyactuallysettled.
I: So it wasn’t necessarily a negative response
or..?
R:Ahcertainlyahh:jesusno.Ahidsayplanning
yeah. Because I know its like this, they had X
amount of land to work with right so (.)
obviouslytheregoingtomaximiseittothebest
ofthereabilities.SoIsupposethrowingin20or
22initiallytheythoughtitmightworkbutthen
gigging it around from what ever obvious
reasons they probably thought 18 would work
an awful lot better then22. I know fromdown
here going through it if your turbines are too
closetogethertheywilltakethewindoffofeach
otherso.There’snopointinputtingtoomanyin
theonepoint.
I:Itsprobablyjustmorestressforthem…
R:Yeah,soIknowitwasthesamedownhere.It
was going to be four but then they gigged it
aroundandfittedfiveincomfortably. Andthey
couldactually (.) anotheronewouldhavegone
over there but we thought it might have been
coming too close to the house and then it was
alsoimpedingonBordNaMóna.Lookit,justtry
thefiveonthislandonthisfarmandthen..that’s
thewayweworkedit.
Sothereductionfrom20–18
wasplanningrelated.
Same movement of turbines
for max energy was on his
landaswell.
137
I: Do you know actually any other people that
had a similar experience to you or that did I
knowyouwheretheonlyonethathad(.)there’s
another farmerwho has another one in a field
overhereisit?
R: There is yeah, Jim O’ Grady and a there’s
anotherguySeanHayden.
I:Ahoksothereisafewmore.
R:There isyeah,on theotherside then there’s
John Butler and Tom Butler. Yeah sowhatever
fivefarmsandthenthere’sthreeinCoillte.That
was the second phase and then the first phase
waswhatwasintheLisheenMines.
I: Ok, so do you think they would have had a
similarexperiencetoyou?
R:Yeahprettymuchyeah.Iknowcertainlywith
JimO’Grady.WellnotsomuchwithJimO’Grady
ifyoucould imagineah:he’s justat theedgeof
hislandandnextthingtheyliterallycamein(.)
put in a turbine and out again. Where as here
they where literally cutting right across the
farm, like you know what I mean. They had
minimal impact on Jim O’ Grady. Ah John
Butler,yeahTomandJohnButlerhadabitof
impact I suppose alright yeah. But certainly
yeah they probablywould have had similar
Other farmers with turbines
on their lands shared similar
experiences.
138
experience. Not as detailed as here either
likeyouknowbecausetheyjusthadoneeach
likeyouknow.
Less complicated then Mr
Daly’s5turbines.
I:Soyougotthelionsshare?
R:Ahlookit(.)potluck,rightweboughtthis
farmin1992andgrandwedevelopeditand
whatever. And back in 2008 another farm
came up beside it and we bought that and
justintimingandthetimingwasgood(.)we
bought it inFebruaryandbytheendofthat
yearwewhereinnegationswithwindfarms
toaboutputtingupturbines.Soitjustkindof.
Farmswherepickedbasedon
the position relative to roads
andotherhouseholds.
Statesitwasluck.
I:Kindofsnowballedfromthere?
R: Yeahworked from thereyeah.Well as there
saying, if you could remember back to the
Celtic tigeryears.Youmighthaveheard the
phrase or saying “road frontage”. Did you
everhearthat“roadfrontage”.
I: Don’t buy a property if it doesn’t have
“roadfrontage”haha.
R: Yeah exactly, except this is the complete
opposite.
I:Ok.
Indigenousterm-Celtictiger
years: termfor theeconomic
growth in Ireland from the
mid1990stillthemid2000s.
Rapid economic growth
followed the economic crisis
of2008.
Road Frontage: a properly
withaccesstoaroad.
139
R:Becausetheturbinesdidn’twanttobebeside
the roador anything. So itwasworth an awful
lotmore being further away from the road. So
thatwasit.
I:Doyouthinkthatyouwouldhavetheturbines
on your farm if therewas the benefits that the
communityhadandthebenefitsthatyou..
R: See, ah:: where probably (..) we knew that
there was money going to the community
anyway and thiswas just (.) I know therewas
30,000withthe..
I:Original..
R:Original and then therewas another 20,000
itsactuallyincreasednowbutah:.Soiscertainly
helpedlikeyouknowwhatImean.Look ityou
havetorespectotherpeopleaswellandyou
cant just steam roll and Idon’t thinganyone
individual could afford to put up five turbines
and I don’t think the Lisheen Mine (.) you
know theywhere thekey.Because theyhad
the power out from Thurles out to the
Lisheen Mines so the infrastructure was in
place.Like foranyone individual togosolohe
probablywouldneedanawfullotofmoney.And
ifanythingwentwrongatallhe’dgobrokeyou
know.Itwouldbeimpossibletostartoffonyour
own. It would be unthinkable really, like you
know.AsIwassayingtheoutletfrom(.)forthe
powerhadcapacity.
Fundingagain
RESPECT
Individuals cant compete at
helevelthecompaniesdo.
Alreadyexisting
infrastructure–drawofthe
area.
140
I:Yeahtheyhadasubstationoutthere.
R:Yeahtheyhadthebig(.)whatisita110KV
comingfromThurlesinplacealreadylikeand
thatwaskeylike.
I: Over all do you think between 2009 – 2013
the whole time now, do you think they
participatedwell,withtheengagementwiththe
localpeopleinthedevelopments?
R:Idsaysoyeah,yeahdefinitelybecauseevenat
theconstructionstage, look it theguyscame in
(.) what where there names em: (.) Crawfords
wasit?Iforgettheconstructioncrowd.Ehhbut..
I:Icouldprobablyfinditout.
R:IthinkitwasBelford,Belfordyeahthey,yeah.
Theysublet’editouttoRossmoreEngineeringa
company from Co. Cork. But I know for a fact
that they a (.) felicitated buying diesel local
and any problems with machines or anything
like that theyavailed of local mechanics and
all.Youknownicegestures so Imean there’s a
certainbitofspinoff locallyfromityeah.But
yeahlookititslikeanybuildingwork,theyjust
comeinand itsdonetheyhaveatimeframeto
do it and that’s it like yeah. A lot of the
contractors(.)there’saquarrylocallyandallot
of materials where sourced locally as well
Positiveviewonparticipation.
Thomayhavemisinterpreted
thequestion.
Developers kept the
happiness of the locals in
mind.
BENEFIT–spinoff
141
likeyeah.
I:Sotheywentaboutittherightway?
R:Absolutelyyeah.Absolutelyyeah.
I:Sonoonefeltthat(.)youknowyouhearitin
the press and everything that big firms are
cominginandtakingarelandandairandusing
it for profit. Its not that kind of mentality or
sentimentanyway?
R: No I don’t think so no. No, look it its like
across the road with the mines right, Lisheen
mines right. The ore is quite expensive. But its
alsoquiteexpensivetobringitoutoftheground
andsentitoffinashiptoChinaorwhereverits
going.LikeyouknowwhatImean.Youhaveto
allow a bit of leeway, you have to accept that
yeah fairplay they’llmakea fewquidoutof it.
But they’re also spending an awful lot of
moneyintheareatogetitoutlikeyouknow.
Itslikeprobablythewindfarmsliketherewasa
huge investment into so yeah they would be
entitled to a fewquid out of it too.But it also
certainty helps that the local community is
alsobenefitingoutofitwithsome,youknow
with some local communities like the
athletics and the GAA, churches and
whatever. Halls and all this sort of craic. So
yeah personally yeah id believe it would be a
goodnewsstoryyeah.That’smyopinion.
Mediaquestion–
Benefits for the local
community = always the
returningpoint
142
Breakintheinterview:Personalinformationetc.
Comes back with discussion about a
promotional video used to display the Lisheen
windfarmafterdevelopment.
I:ItwastheIWsomething,itwastheIrishWind
FarmsomethingAssociation.
R:Yeah,becausetheywantedtoputsomething
together because they where doing another
project. I think it was kind of involved with
mainstream. But it didn’t materialise anyway.
Butyeahnotheyneededthiskindofagood
newsstoryaboutwindfarmsbecausethere’s
somuchnegativityanduproarinplaces.
Media spin – change the
nationaldebatenarrative.
I:Whatdoyouthinkaesthetically,likewhatyou
thinktheylooklikeontheirown?Doyoucareat
all?
R: Look it, does it bothermedefinitely not.No
there was a tree there (points and remarks at
themore visible turbine between trees) and it
fell down and I said Jesus the tree was nice
therebutsurelookit.They’rethere,itspart
ofit.
ThewayIlookatitnowisprogress.AsIwas
sayingeverycoupleofyears,Idon’tknowifyou
wouldrememberitbutBordNaMónawashere.
And there was (.) during the summer there
was rows and rows of cars going down to
work inBordNaMóna.Next thing thatdied
Aesthetics–
Progressiveview
Memories of more industrial
times.
143
off.AndtheLisheenMinescame.Sotherekind
ofgoingandIknowwehavewindturbinesand
whatever.Nowtheretalking,thattheymightbe
using this site as an energy hub (.) kind of
excellence. Because there talking about solar
panelsandthatsortofthing.LookIwouldn’tbe
surprised if it happens and but if it does that
would be progress. I think its coming from the
EU that the (.) they’ll nearly give you planning
permission faster now for a solar power then
theywouldforturbines.
I:Theguidelineshaven’tbeenchosenyet.
Expectsmoreprogress.
Optimistic
Interruptionastheintervieweegetsteaready.
R: Na look it I don’t mind them. I'm right
beside the highest one on are lands so
whatever.
Doesn’timpacthislife
Largestonebesidehim.
Morepersonalinformation.(nottranscribed)
R: I knowMartin Shanahan, he's a retired guy.
Doestractorsandcarsandwhateverbutah.He
hasone(turbine)atthehousethatwouldnever
pay for itself. Its just the technology in it isn’t
good enough.Hewas saying that itwas a pure
wasteoftimeputtingitup.
Morepersonalinformation.(nottranscribed)
R:Togobacktotheturbinestheengineeringis
144
fantastic.Toactually(.)ifIwastotellyoutodig
it out. Took an average of 54 loads of
concrete for each foundation. But when you
actuallyseetheholeandthenthegearboxatthe
end.These oneshave gear boxes I think the
propellersandthegearboxiscarryinga100
ton. On the top. Yeah it’s mad. It’s like a
bungalowontopofthepoll.It’samazing.
Iwassayingearlierwiththeroadwaytheycame
in there and put in a if you see them once or
twiceamonth that’s it like. If youknowwhat I
mean.Ithasverylittlemaintenance.Ifthereisa
problem it probably could be fixed in the
substation. It probably could be fixed on the
phonelike.Technologyisfantastic.
Its great to see the engineering has come
leapsandboundslikeforthegreatergood
EndofRecording:InterviewEnds
Impressedwithengineering
Scale
Smoothrunningoperation.
Greatergood–
145
10.2.3.CodingofIndepthInterviewwithPaddyDoyle–
ChairpersonofMoyneAthleticsClub,memberofthe‘ParishForum’andmember
oflocalhistoricalsociety.
November10th2015-Templetuohy,Co.Tipperary,RepublicofIreland.
I:Interviewer
T:PaddyDoyle
Transcription Coding
I:Couldyoutellmewhenyoufirstheardaboutthe
planstodevelopthewindfarmsatLisheen?
P:Ah::Ican’trememberthedateortheexacttime.
Itwas justwhenplanningpermissionwasapplied
forthatwordwentaroundtheparish,thenatthat
stage. That there was going to be the turbines
erectedatthesightoftheLisheenMine.
First heard through word
ofmouthnot
I: So you heard it though word of mouth rather
thenthroughanysortofofficialmeans?
P:Yes(.) I I I I thingthe initialwordwasthrough
wordofmouthnotthoughameetingoraletteror
anything.
Not heard from the
company
I: How did you feel when you first heard about
them?
P:Em(.) Iwasn’t tooalarmedat the ideaof them
buteh::Isupposeanythingnewlikethatyouhave
tobecautiousyano.(.)Thefeelingatthetimewas
there’snopointaskingquestionslatersoehhh:::
Caution against the
unknown.
146
Sopeoplestartedtoresearchtheideaandlookinto
iftherewasanynegativeeffectstoitbecauselike
the media had some negative press. But I
suppose a few people started to research it and
lookintoit.
AffectoftheMEDIA
I:Howwouldyoudescribeyourparticipationwith
theprojectitself?Ifyoucouldsummarisehowyou..
P:Liketheturbinesthemselves?
I: Ah:: no like the participation with the local
community,the‘ParishForum’
P:Wellatthetimewhentheturbineswherebeing
mootedtherewasanactiongroupwhereformedto
kindofreallytoinquire(.)theyweren’tananti
turbinegroup.Buttheywherejustsetupto(.)
em:(.)tofindoutmoreinformationreally.
I suppose I went down out eh: of curiosity I
supposeasmuchasanythingelsejusttoseewhat
wasgoingonthere.Andthenwhentheydidem:
it turned up very little really that there was
verylittlenegativeaboutit
and thenwentplanningdidgoaheadandwesaw
thatthiswaswhattheconditionseh:(.)
I’minvolvedintheathleticclubandthehistory
group in Moyne so I I em: I went down to the
meeting to see ehwhatwouldwould itmean for
thosegroupsI’minvolvedwith.
ActionGroup=Seephotos
ofdocuments.
Antiwindfarm??
Active in this prior to
granting of planning
permission.
Then was involved in the
ParishForum.
---conditionsofplanning
engaged member of
community
147
I:Ah:ok.
P:Iwentdownandehacommitteeof17where
em where elected I suppose as such on the
night.
And it was set up and then an annual general
meeting was formed was called after that and it
kind of just gradually grew the format of how it
operateswas kind of organic really it (.) emerged
asneedsbekindof.
Democraticallyelected
Annual engagement from
thebeginning
I: Oh ok and was that around 2008 before
construction?
P:YesitwouldhavebeenIsuppose.
I: So tell memore about the club and what your
roleisinthat?
P: Well in the athletic club I’m involved in as an
athletic myself and I’m also a coach I’ve been a
coaching theclub forabout20years.Andeh: I’ve
alwaysheldaplace in the last20 -25years iv
heldanofficershipaswellandchairmanatthe
momentandwehaveallotoffacilitiesandallot
of capital projects kind of that where carried
outinthelast10–15yearssowewherealways
hopingtogetmoneyaswell.
Andthehistorygroupwe’veem:(.)we’vewrittena
parishhistorythatwaswrittenin2002anditwas
em.
Longstandingpositionin
thelocality.
Benefitedhugelyfromthe
turbines
148
I:Ohreallyyeah,
P:Yeahitwasathreevolumeahbooksabout1500
pagesinit(.)ithadtobedividedintothreekindof
A4 sized books. It was a sizable project theMine
helpedusalittle(.)helpeduswitheh:printingofit
Isuppose,theygavesomefundsaswell.
But then eh: in the last few years thenwewhere
em: (.) therewas no index to the original volume
threevolumessointhelast4or5yearsweputwe
got an index and the forum then helped us pay
forthat.
Historygroupalso
receivedfunding.
I: So the community and your personal
involvementhasbeenhelpedbythisdevelopment.
P:Ohabsolutelyyesitsbeenagreatkindofwellit
wasoriginally30,000ayeartotheparishandeh(.)
withtheextraturbineshavebeenputupsoitsup
toeh:50,000ayeartobedividedupbetweenthe
parish, (.) for both ends of the parish for capital
projectsannually.
Funding
Divided–differentendsof
theparish=
I: Do you remember any meetings, information
meetings or anything like that prior to it being
built?
P:Eh::: Idoremembereh:: (.) Idorememberone
yeah()asecondsetofturbineshavealsobeenset
upbyBordNaMónawhichareasecondwindfarm
Engagement–
149
but I distantly that going ahead but yeah () (.) I
kindofvaguelyremembermeetingwiththepeople
beforetheLisheenturbineswheresetup.
Notmuchinteraction.
I:I’minterestedinfindingoutiftheyhadaccessto
theactualdecisionmakingprocess?
P: Yeah the Lisheen Mine would have been (.)
since the time I had been set up really have
beenquiteopenwith..with…with thepeopleat
allstagesofitsowndevelopment,ofwhatitwas
doingandwhat it intendedtodo.Andthathas
workedverywell.
ButanotherminejustinGalmoyMinelessthen10
milesaway,setupbeforeLisheenMineanditwas
operatedonatellthemaslittleaspossiblebasisas
it seems to me. And everything seemed go work
againstthemwhereas,(.)theLisheenMinekindof
adapted a (Minorco Lisheen) the different
companies that owned it since itwas first kindof
(.)theorewasfirstfound.They’veoperatedona
muchmoreopenbasiswiththecommunityand
itseemstohaveworkedanawfullotbetter.
I:Ah::ok::…
P: And so when it came to the turbines they
adopted the same kind of system really. They
didinformusandtherewasmeeting.
Glowing praise for the
companiesengagement.
EG of a similar situation
going badly. Galmoy -
Didn’tworkas theywhere
not informed as to what
washappening.
Numerousdifferent
companiesownedthe
mine.
IMPORTANCEOF
Continuousengagement
I:Soyoufeltliketheydidactuallyengage.
150
P:Oh::yeahtheydidyeah::theLisheenMinehave
beenverygoodtoengage(.)Ifeelyeah.
I: Do you think that maybe it was the mine that
played that role or because of the previous
connections with the society or was it their
interaction with the community because of the
development?
P: (Intakeofbreath)(.)Eh::: itshardtosayreally
(.) id say it was the way they had operated
really.
I:I’mtryingtoteaseoutwhythese,howexactlythe
participationwentbecauseitseemstohavebeena
successfromnearlyeveryoneI’vetalkedto.
P: Yeah like openness defiantly seems to have
worked like there are (.) like I’ve said that the
Galmoymines (.) because the localsbackedup (.)
becausethethingswheredoneandthentheytried
to explain why they where done. (.) Then you
know::there’sno()andnogoingbackthenandits
very hard to allay peoples fears afterwards
whenitstoolate.WhentheLisheenMinekindof
seemedtohave(.)kindofgivenus thechance
to ask questions and things like that and then
(.) theywhere ahh (.) youknow:: itwas itwas
quiteopenreally.
Opennessagain!
Bad e.g. again – informing
the locals. (action without
participation)
Nogoingback..
Lisheendidn’tdothat–
Meaningful to this
participant
151
I: Did you know at the time that there was an
environmental impactassessmentdonebeforethe
construction.
P: I can’t remember know (.)with themines and
everything we also met with them about the
tailingspondand theEPAand therewas fromwe
couldalwaysfeel(.)thefeelingwealwaysgotwas
that they where doing everything thing that was
thatwasneededtobedoneandthattheywhere(.)
Isupposeeh::theywereaskeenaskeepingthe
thingrightaswewere.
environmental
Confidenceintherehistory
inthearea.
I: Do you remember any differences between the
firstphaseandthesecondphase,inregardstohow
you where informed about it or how the parish
dealtwithit.
P: I remember the parish didn’t (.) em::: there no
active reason or anything like that for the second
phaseitwasjustkindof(.)I suppose the feeling
wasthattherewasn’tanytroublewiththefirst
phase so (.) there was no real issues with (.)
frommypointof view therewasno real issue
withthesecondphase.
I:Thesecondphasewasbuiltonmorefarms?
P:Itwasitwasonprivatelandreally.
I: So the discussions would have been dealt with
Notrouble
Nosecondphasemeetings
152
themIsuppose.
P: Yes there was no (.) I cant remember any
meetingtakingplaceforthesecondphase.
I:Doyourememberanyonechallenginganyofthe
initialplans?Iknowthattheinitialplanswherefor
22windturbinesandthenreducedto18.
P:That’sright18whereputup.
I: I’m interested to know was that done by the
community or was that just planning related
issues?
P:Ithoughtthattheyappliedfor22(.)turbinesas
far as I know but I think logistically I think they
only18wasmorepractical,Idon’tknowwhy.
Practical issues with
planning
I:Gettingbacktoyourroleintheclub,doyoufeel
that(.)Iknowthatitsreceivedfunding,ivactually
seen it myself and it looks very good (.) it looks
well put together. Do you think that you would
havegottenthefundingordoyouthinkyouwould
have been much worst off if these wind turbines
hadn’tbeenbuild?
P:Well every bit of funding helps.Butem::yes
wewoulddefiantlybeallotworseoffiftheturbines
hadn’t been built. Because ah:: like it is been
comingintotheparisheveryyearassuchandit
is for capital projects so em:: (.) it encourages
153
organisationstodevelopfacilitiesreally.
I:Andwhereyouwithinthe‘ParishForum’forthe
whole time, so you where representing these
groups?
P: Yes in fairness like most people (.) a certain
number of people, I suppose more than half of
thepeopleontheforumwouldhavebeen,em::
have a vested interest in some organisation,
morepracticallyallofthemreally.
But in general at themeeting therewas a general
fairnessandehakindofah responsibility to the
community as much as anything. The loyalty
wouldn’t like come to a vote as in one
organisationagainstanother,reasondoeskind
ofwinoutinyouknowtheend.
Vestedinterests–but
The General Good –
community
Responsibility
I:Wouldyousaythatthiswouldbeagoodexample
of a rural Irish example of how wind turbines
wouldberolledoutinanarea.
P:Wellitsits(.)itisagoodsystem(.)butatthe
same time (.) people might say are you being
boughtoff? Itsem:: Ipersonallydon’t feel like its
likebeingboughtoffatthemoment.Idofeelthat
greenenergy isan important sourceofenergy
and its much better then digging up the bogs
andburningthingsthatcreateCo2.
You know like I do think it’s a valuable way like
some people protest the sight of them and
CommunityBribery?
Environmentallyminded
Believes in protest – but
notintrusive.
154
everything but. Its only (.) there not very
intrusiveandtherenotthatuglyIthink.ButIdo
thinkthatthefactthatmoneydoescomebackto
thecommunity isverybeneficial to thepeople
that have to live in those areas. Perhapshouse
valuesmighthavedroppedIdon’tknowbecauseof
them (.) that people might find it harder to sell
housesor landorsomethingbut Idon’t (.) I think
that em: the fact that facilities have been put
back into those parishes that are closest to
thembasicallystandstothoseparishes.
Greater good – mild
Utilitarianism?
BENEFITS–
Propertyvalues
I: Keeping with that, do you think because your
communityseemstobeatightknitcommunitythat
caresandlooksoutforeachother…
P:Yeahwellit’satypicalruralcommunityassuch.
I: So you would say that would be the typical
standardacrossthecountry?
P:YeahIwouldimaginesoyeah.
TYPICAL RURAL
COMMUNITY
I: As I have been looking at participation within
localcommunities, it’saverygoodexample, Iwas
wonderinghowmuchIyoucouldgeneralisethisin
regardstootherplacesandcountieseven.
P: Yeah its () but for small communities to
surviveyoudoneedtohavefacilitiesandneed
to have schools and you really need to have
characterisation and all that kindof stuff.Like in
SMALL COMMUNITY
SURVIVAL=Driver
Worry for the longevity of
155
moreruralareaswheretheyloosetheirschool
maybe and even their church and things like
that (.) that are a focalpoint.And if they loose
those kind of facilities those em:: practical
facilities for sporting events and things like
that, theneh: theyare incentives forpeople to
gototownsreallyandleaveruralareas.
hisruralcommunity.
Loss of focal points = loss
ofcommunity.
Loss of population to
urban centres – social
impact.
I: Ok yeah. Over all did you think that the
companiesengage inovereverything really in the
planning phase, information phases, following up
phases.Didtheydoagoodjobinyouropinion?
P:Yestheydid.Theywherecomprehensiveand
they had a follow up on the work that, you
knowIthinkeveryoneishappyastheycouldbe
withit.Youknow.
PersonalAssessment
I:Justyourselfdidyourexperienceparticipatingin
theiswholeprocessdidyougetanythingfromitor
wasitachoreorwhereyouveryhappydotoit?
P:WellIwashappyenoughtodoitI’mjust(.)I’m
alwaysinvolvedincommunityprojectsaround
here so you know its just another (.) just
another(.)kindoflocaldevelopmentIsuppose
projectreally(.)I’mjusthappytobeinvolved.
Experience–
Sees himself as an active
memberofsociety–
Happytobeinvolved=
156
10.2.4.Codingof Indepth Interviewwith JohnHogan–Cahaoirleach (Councillor)
Templemore/Thurles–PoliticalpartyFiannaFáil
I:Interviewer
J:JohnHogan
Transcription Coding
I: I’ve been trying to find out a more useful and
inclusivewayofengagingwiththecommunity…
J: First of all when thiswind farmwas suggested
em(.)theycontactedme,theLisheenMineswhich
wastheirfirststep.AndI’mapublicrep,nowthey
asked me how I felt and I felt there would be
plentyofobjectionstoit.
Ipersonallybelievein(.)greenerenergy,idbe
afirmbelieverthatweneedtochangetheway
we operate the world and we need to take a
hard look at the world around us. If we don’t
wheregoingtoburnupandthat’sthelongand
short of it. Global warming isn’t a joke it’s a
reality.
Butanywayso:Isaididagreewithitsotheysaid
thatwhattheyfeltthatweshoulddoistosetup
a ‘Parish Forum’, which was an excellent idea
becausethatParishForumwassetupfortodeal
with this wind turbine thing, and its working
eversince.SowesetupaParishForumtodiscuss
the whole thing and have a formal parish
structure for something like this coming in
Firsttobecontacted–
Politicalrepresentative.
Longtermperspective.
Politicallyminded.
Company’sideaforthe
establishmentofthe
forum.
Religiousterritorial
structuresused
Awareoftheneedforprior
157
because it could have a detrimental effect we
didn’tknowyousee.Theproblemis ignorance
(.) an awful lot of people haven’t a clue. They
thinkit’sgoingtodothemharm,buttheydon’t
reallyknow.
SowesetuptheParishForumandweelected15
or 16 people. Everyone came to the meeting
everyonewasallowedtosuggestsomebodyand
thehighest16cametothevoteandgotelected
whatever.Sothenwestartedtodiscusstheissues.
Sothefirst thingwedidwaswewentaroundand
lookedat variouswind farmsaround the country.
Now we found one negative guy from who lived
below Rockchapel in Co Cork. She told us they
soundedlikeaeroplanesandhelicoptersatnight.
I:Okyeah?
J:Butshesaidshewasonalotofmedicationforit.
And then I asked her how long was she on the
medication? And she said 20 years. And I asked
hearhowlongtheturbinesup?2years…
I:Haha(laughter)
J: (Laughter)Funny thingabout it is (.) onegirl
gotthatintohearheadonourbusandshewent
off and contacted national bodies who where
opposed to wind farms and brought them all
back and said they where going to deafen
everybodyandallthethingsonthatthingIgave
you. Their going to damage the water, the
warningforthe
community.
IGNORANCE!!Lackof
educationontechand
Awareoftheinstitutional
structureswithinthis
society–
Organised
Organisedfieldtrip–
Needforfirsthand
experience=thiswasnot
officiallypartofthe
participationbutanidea
bythenewcommittee
themselves.What
Analogy–theclaims
unsubstantiated
Theeffectofoneindividual
onagroup–
Antiwindfarmlobbying
158
environment, land values would be down 40%.
Landvalueshaven’tdropped(.)onesinglecent.
The dearest piece of land ever sold in are
parish was sold about seven years ago under
the turbines. 21,000(€) per acre for purely
agriculturalland.Fornothingelse.
groupsbecameinvolved
Externalactors
Fearsforlandpricesnoted
inotherinterviews.
I:Soit’salljustfalse?
J:Justrubbish. Ifafarmerwantsland,he’llbuy
itsupposingthedevilissittingonit.Theydon’t
care. If there is such a thing! They’ll buy it, they
don’tcare.Ifitsbesideanuclearreactorifafarmer
wants it they’ll buy it. That’s the reality. So it
didn’taffectanythinglikethatbutem:butthenas
the four of us then set up then we started
negotiatingprice.
WhathappenedwasIwenttothemines,andIsaid
tothem,what’sinitforthelocalcommunity?So
this is what I think is good practice. They said “I
supposetherehastobesomethingin it forthem”.
How do you envision giving us something? They
said, “we cant give you something” (.) “are
company isAngloAmericanand theywouldn’t
giveyouanything”hesaid.Doyouknow, their
stockexchange(.)theywillgiveaslittleasthey
can.
SoIsaidwhatwaywillweworkit.Themanager
ofthemineisacleveroldfella(.)agreatmanfor
corporate social responsibility. In fairness to
Indigenousphrase:It
doesn’tmatterwhat’s
wrongwiththelandifa
farmerwantsittheywill
buyit.
Participationasa
negotiation.
Theywheresavvywhenit
cametothisprocess.
Aprofitmaximising
companyworkingwithina
capitalistsystemwillvery
little.
Managerwasawareofthe
societyheworksinand
159
him.Hesaidthat“ifyoucouldworkitthroughthe
planningprocess”.SoIwenttotheplannersandI
saidcanyouput inacondition, that theyhave
to give so much per turbine per year to the
community. Theplanner says “Jesus we cant do
thatunlesssomeoneaskesustodothat.Ithas
to come from the public as a submission”. So I
wenttothelocalmeetingsanywayandIsuggested
(.) I shouldhavewaited awhile (.) thatwe should
putinasubmissionlookingforsomethingforthese
turbines.So Iwasbooed andhissed as the local
councillor putting up the white flag. The
following morning I woke up and there was
postersattheendofmylane“localcouncillors
should support local people”.Nowmywifesaid
tomeyoumadeamistakethereJohnwhatareyou
going to do. I said the electionwas coming up in
twoyears later, Icouldn’tgiveashitletthemvote
for me if they want. I’m not going to tell them I
believethatturbinesarewrongifIthinktherenot.
I’mnotgoingtotellthemtokeepburningcoaland
peat.AndsoIsaidIknowthisisthewayIseeit.I
knowwecangetsomethingoutofit.
So Iwent to thenextmeeting,anywaytheysaid
tome“againyoucannotsend inanapplication
(.) they said you don’t represent us”. Even
though I’m the only councillor in the area,
there’snooneelse.SoIsaidwhorepresentsyou.
So who represents the parish? They said the
parishpriestrepresentsus(.) that’swhat they
said.
CSR
PLANNING–loophole
Publicsubmission
Antiwindfarmopposition
alreadyorganised.
Localpolitics
Politically–negativeatthe
time
Election–whichhewon.
Politicalrhetoricand
personalposition–handin
handinIreland.
Numerousmeetingsprior
toplanningbeingaccepted.
=selforganised–no
facilitation–deliberative
Conflictofrecognitionas
rep.–politicallyheis–
socially–??
160
I:Ok…
J: The parish priest is a very quite man, Fr
Murphy (.) very quite man. So they said Fr
Murphycouldput inasubmission.So Idrewupa
submissionandgaveittoFrMurphy.Heaskedme
would I work with him. But the day of the (.)
thing(.)hesaidhewasbeingbulliedtoomuch,
hecouldn’tsignit.Toomanycallstohishouse
toomuchpressureonhim.SoeventuallyIhadto
send in a submission, and I did it. Looking for
40,000peryearfromtheturbines.
Religion?
Bulling?
SoJHsentinthe
submission.
I:Andisthisbeforeeventheplanningwas…
J:Theplanningwasgranted.ButIknewitwouldbe
granted.
I:So fullygranted?SotheEIAandeverythingwas
alreadydone?
J: Yes everything was done. But the planning
permission was gone in but hadn’t been granted.
Nowidspokenwith theplannersandsaidyou
knowthere’sallotadis…ofconcernmaybe.But
Idon’t thinkthere’s toomanywhereagainst it
(.) certain voices where very strong in the
community.Ithinkthemajorityofthecommunity
didn’t actually mind. A certain amount of voices
where very concerned and I said ya knowdo you
have to give planningpermission?And they said
they don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t.
That it was absolutely suitable, the density of
Insiderknowledge
TheActiongroup
Localpolitics–
Silentmajority.
Perfectlocation
161
housingwasverylow,itwasverynearBogland
andallatonesidewasbog..
I:Didtheygetmanyyouknownegativecomments
into the comment section during the planning
stage.
J:Therewas65.Theywhereanorganisedgroup.
Twas there selves theirmothers and there sisters
andtherebrothers.Agroupmanybeofthecore
15 where probably where mostly responsible
forthe65.Andtheywhereallintheonetowns
land.Infairnesstheyhadconcernsaboutthem.
Accesstojustice
THEACTIONGROUP
Moyne
Considerablemobilisation
ofpeople.
I:Sotheydidputthatinandtheyhadasay?
J:Theydidhaveasay,ohh:::theydidhaveasay
(.)yeahandtheyhiredanexperttocomedown
and they got on television national television
complaining about these things. They where
goingtodestroyalltheirlivesandallthisstuff.So
theymadenationalheadlines like(.)Butat the
sametimeasilentmajorityweren’topposedto
them.IfyouknowwhatImean.
I:Yeah,yeah..
ButIthinktheLisheenMines,thedevelopers,also
knewthat.Sothey kindofrodethestormandlet
theplanningprocesstakeitscourse.
J:Sowhenthatwasdoneanyway,theplanners
UseofMEDIA
Fear-
- Paddy,Tim
162
put it into the condition that they give 30,000
peryearindexedlinkedtothelocalcommunity.
Butthebiggestproblemis(.)andIthinkivgotthat
withme (.)Whatwas the local community? To
establishthatthen…
I: Yeah because it’s quite confusing with the
differentlayouts,evenwithallthedifferentturbine
fieldsnexttoeachother.
J: Myself and a few others set up (.) (takes out a
documentandshowsme)thiseveryquicklytosee
whatisthelocalcommunity.Thecommunitycould
beconsideredAbbeyleix.Weconsidereditasthe
Parish of Moyne Templetuohy, because we
where the ones up against it. So we set up a
structure every year we would (.) a get this
30,000 though a mechanism where you get
pound (.) euro for euro. If you spend a euro on
capital project for your parish you get back a
euro off this fund. Its not for day to day
maintenance of clubs or anyt.. a good few people
where very annoyed about that.But I thought it
wastheonlywaywecouldprogresstheparish,
rather then give it for the day to day running
you give it for capital expenditure and 50%.
Andthatworkedparticularlywell.
What I did after that was then and I felt it was
wrongofthecounciltomakeacommunitydothis
themselves.But that shouldhavebeenpolicy.But
you see as usual the council is amillionmiles
away.Something has to happen, their reactive
Turbinesprevailed
Geographicalissues
Manywindfarmsina
relativelysmallruralarea.
Negotiationsagain.
Economicallyprudent
structure.
PROGRESSagain
Capitaldrivingit–
Uptillthispointself-
governed.
Weaknessesinlocal
government
163
ratherthenproactive.
I:Yeah,Yeah..
J: So in the last county development plan I got
the development plan changed. That every
developerhastogive€4,500per turbinetoeach
community.Sonomatterwhereorwhenonesbuilt
inTipperaryithastobeinthedevelopment.
He'scritical.
Impactonnationalpolicy.
Futureimpacts=
I: That’s very good I was going to ask you about
that.
J: I looked for I canvased for the change in the
countydevelopmentplan.
I think a lack of understanding is the biggest
problemoutofthesecases.Peoplefeellikethena
fewyearsagoTV3contactedme,Imighthavetold
youthistheotherday.Theywhereinthemidlands
doingaprogramallaboutmassiveobjections toa
em: (.) big wind farm that Bord na Móna where
developing.Theysaidtheremustbeallotofpeople
upsetaroundyou(.)andIsaidno. Itsnot itsnotI
thatIwasinfavour.Iwasn’tactuallyinfavourof
thematall,Ijustwasn’tagainstthem.
Sotheysaid“theremustbepeopledowntherevery
upsetovertheseturbines?Youknowarethereany
houseswith in500m?” I said theywhereopposed
toitinitiallybutnowtherenot.Sotheysaidtome
“Do you know anybody?” and I said listen ill tell
youwhatilldo.Justsou’llgivefaircoverageinthe
Knowledge–
understanding(repeated)
-Media–reportonturbine
objections-
politicalanswer
164
media. I said you come down and ill drive you
aroundareareaandanyhouseyousaystopat
ill stop and ill go in and introduce ya. Illwalk
awayandletthemtellyouwhattheirviewsare
onwindturbines.Andthat’swhatwedid.
I:Youdidyeah?
J:Wedid.Theywentintoaboutfourorfiveofthem
andtheyplayedallofthem.Everyoneofthemsaid
the same thing. “Aw:: Ohh: we where kind of
against them in the beginning, we don’t see
them,wedon’thearthem,wedon’tnoticethem.
Theyplaynonegativepartinarelives.”
Confidenceinthe
participationprocess
Lifeworld-
Alternationinthe–social
constructionofreality.
I:Sodoyouthinkthat the informationgoingback
towhen they first put in (planning) do you think
theinformationgiventothem,thelocalcommunity
was it adequate?Youknow theway its stipulated
in the EIA that you have to engage with the
community.
J:Ifeelitwasminimal.
I:Soyoufeelitwasminimal?
J: It was minimal. It was good but it was still
minimal. Itwasbetter than we had in a lot of
things beforehand. You know there’s allot of
planningpermissionsforvariousprojectswehear
nothing.Atleasttheheldopenmeetingsinlocal
community centres and invited people in to
havealookatit.
Regardlessofsuccess–
AccesstoInformation–
minimal.
Meetingsorganised
165
I:Okanddidtheydistributeanyleafletsor…
J:Onthatnighttheydidyes.Theydid.WellIfelt(.)
I should have had those but I don’t know where
they are. But I felt maybe they should have
maybe contacted individual objectors and
talked to them about their concerns.Maybego
onatripwiththe(.)whenwewentoffwehireda
busandwewenttolookmaybecomewithus.Talk
tothepeople,bepartofus.
It becamea them andus rather then,well let’s
justdo this foreverybody, you’regoing to gain
outofit,andwe’regoingtogainoutofit.
Everybody gains in the finish that’s the reality
andwe gain as a nationwith the use of green
energy.
Proposingamore
proactiveroleforcompany
-consultationsdirectly
withtheobjectors.
- trips–liketheone
theywenton.
- partofthewhole.
Mutualbenefit-mutual
understanding–Habermas
Communitybenefit=
macronationalbenefits.
I:Andmeetingarequotas.
J:Yeahandmeetingarequotasandavoiding fines
fromtheEUthat’sthelongandtheshortofit.
I:AnotherthingI’mlookingatiswhethertheyhad
an impact on the decisionmaking process within
theplanswhentheywherebeingmade?
J: No we didn’t have any impact in the no no.
Well I suppose in fairness to them they initially
looked for 22 and they got 18 (.) because the
planning process. They did have an impact
Nomajorroleindecision
makingprocessesbut
166
becausetheplanningprocessagreedwithsome
of themmaybe theywhere a little tonearone
another, a populated area or something so
therenumberswherereduced.Andinfairnessto
thedevelopers,theyweren’toverlyconcernedover
that.That’sfinetheywherewillingtolistenand
theydidn’tobjecttothattheydidn’tappealit.I
felttheywherereasonableaboutthat.
Sosomeimpacttothefinal
development.
Butthisfeelingisn’tshared
byalltheparticipants.
I: Did you notice a change in the community
betweenphaseoneandphasetwo?
J:Yes
I:Likeafterthefirstphaseobviously…
J:Firstphase(.)secondphasewasthecommunity.
The communitybuilt them.The chairman of the
anti wind farm group has five of them on his
land.Andherealised(.)youinterviewedRichy,he
realised that listen there not as bad as I
thought. And that’s what he says. I have to
believe him.He built 5 of them. And everyone
saidfine,grand.
The funny thing is, there was there was,
actuallymoredivisionwithinthecommunityin
thesecondphase,justsomepeoplewherejealous
ofothersgettingthem.Thatactuallydidn’tmind,so
much(.)idknowwhenI’mouttheirspeoplesortof
saying“ohthatfella,hewantsitall,lookathim
now he’s getting the turbines. He was against
1stPhase–communityhelp
builtthem?
RichardDaly
2ndphase–Builtprivately
Majordifferencehere.
Communitycohesion=
Jealousy
Bitterorfeelingthatthey
wherehypocritical.
167
them last year (.) aw feckers they want
everything”. Whereas they didn’t mind a
multinational company getting them because we
don’t know them but when your neighbour is
beingbetterthenyaitsoftenaproblem.
Ithinkthatwasthecaseupthemidlands,becauseI
had several several visitors in the midlands
whouse to call tomewhen thisproposedone
was up the country and allot of them where
askingme“andhowmuchwouldamangetifhe
hasoneina fieldbesidehim”. Inhis field.And
and I said why do you ask? “My neighbours
getting two and im getting non. And this was
allot of the issue. When there neighbour was
goingtoendup(.)you get approx. €25,000per
turbineperyearifoneofthemgoesuponyour
land for rent.And theywhereworried that their
neighbour would have €50,000 a year and they
wouldn’t.Andthat..
Culturalissue.
Factor–thebettermentof
onefamilyseenaslossfor
others.
- jealousy
Hugesumforrental.
I:Thatelementplaysintoit..
J:Thatplaysintoitandisthat’swhat’sdivisive
aboutcommunities,suddenlyyourmakingone
muchwealthierthenanother.
Whereastheywherealllivinginharmony,peas
in a pod for years and suddenly one becomes
wealthy and the other doesn’t. (.) It divides
people,that’shumannature.
I: And its probably very difficult to plan these
BIGunintended
consequence.
Veryinteresting
168
things….
J:itisverydifficult..
I:tokeepthatinmindifyour..
J: it’s impossible, its practically impossible how
wouldyoudealwithityoucant.
Difficulttochallenge.
I: But do you think that this community could
would be a good example of a rural Irish
community,foraslikeatextbookexample?
J:Whereatextbook localwellknit community
all maybe traditional (.) Irish traditions. The
GAA, Catholic and all the usual things that go
with rural Ireland, music running and all those
things. It would be a very very tight knit local
community.Decentlivingpeopleyouknow..
Tightknitcommunity–
highlevelsofcohesionand
culturalandhistorical
identity.
I: Yeah yeah. Do you think you could take this
experienceandputitelsewh…
J:Ithinksoyoucouldputitanywhere.Ifyouused
therightmodel.I’d say if the LisheenMinewas
backagaintheywouldhavelearnedfromthere
experience. You know probably, more
engagement.Theymadeagoodstabat it.Maybe
setuptheforumfirstandinvitetheminandsay
wherethinkingofdoingawind farm.Tellthem
whatthebenefitsofit.
MOREENGAGEMENT
Earlierengagement-
Developtheforumpriorto
puttinginplanning.
Educatethem.
169
And I found as well that what happens is, the
benefitsof thatwouldbe.Whenyouhold the first
meetingthere’s120peopleinthehallorwherever
asmallcommunityis,there’s20roaring.Youhold
a second meeting and there’s 80 in the hall and
there’s 10 roaring. You hold the third meeting
there’s 20 in thehall.But what happens is they
come to close to the planning permission and
theyallgetfiredup.
Whereas if you start holding them way out, by
thetimeitcomesaroundtosay“isthatnotbuilt
yet”theyhavegottenoverthefearsandgotten
over.. (.) Iv foundwithcommunities(.)advanced
warningisextremelyimportant.Ivbeendealing
withcommunities,ivbeenacouncillorfor16years
I know if they advance warn them then you
havetoeducatethem,itrelaystheirfears.
Politicalmindedstrategy
forpushingforwardwith
plans-numerousmeetings
Temporalissues–more
time–moreacceptable
Experiencedcouncillor–
ADVANCEDWARNING
I: If you lookat it theEIAwascompleted in2006
andtheconstructionstartedaround2009.
J: Yeahyeah sowhatdate ison that report, that I
gaveyouthere?
I:AhthereyougoMarch.
J:YeahMarch06,thatshouldhavebeengivento
thepublic thenand that shouldhavebeenout
there,suchthatwouldbeinmyview.Isuppose
it was a new process they hadn’t engaged
previously. I suppose sometimes some people
Proposingalmost2years
priornotice.
Companylearningcurve?
170
would(.)theoldfashionedviewwouldbetosay
as little as you can and hopefully they wont
notice. But I feel yourwaybetter off to engage
with, talk to them and genuinely relay their
fears.
You know and take them away and show them
differentthings,talktopeopleotherpeoplewilltell
ya.Ifsomebodycometoareparish,theretoldtogo
awayanddon’tworryaboutit.Wegotnothingout
ofit,wherenotworriedaboutit.Theywilltellyou
personally any of them went though the first
phase said I didn’t gain personally the parish
gained there was no problem. I think that’s
important.
Well you could use that as a model, a very good
model.
Tradapproach
Modern–engagementkey
Morefacetime.
Importanceof
interpersonalconnection
-benefitforthewhole
ratherthentheindividual
important–community.
I:Allotoftheseacademicreadingsreallydon’tlook
into the contextual area that much, I know that
theyhavetoapproachthingsonagrandlevel ina
kindofguidelinekindofway.
Youknowthecurrentguidelines(.)Iwasgoingto
ask you that as well, in Ireland with the allowed
distancesforturbines.Theykindofhavetobeset
uptobeacatchall….
J: What frustrates the people more here in
Ireland is there’s more, there was a wind
character assessment done all right. But they
didn’t actually pick areas they actually said no to.
171
Andthatannoyspeople.
There’s landmarks say like Slievenamon an
important hill(mountain) in Tipperary. Although
they havent put turbines on it there’s nothing in
theplanstosaytheycant.
I:Yeah.
J: And theres an area down in Faugheen Carrick-
on-Suir that’s huge resentment down there to
proposed windfarms. Vast resentment and its
becauseit’saveryscenicareapeoplehavealways
visiteditasascenicarea.SoIsupposetheirissues
thattheplanningauthorityhadntdeltwithit,they
feelthattheyhavntbeenprotectedenoughinthoes
areas.Thatneedstobedone.Youknow.
Landscape–alteration–
againstturbineson
hillsides
Inanotherexampleof
turbines-
I: Do you think the fact that theres so much
bogland in thearea thatplayed intodevelopment,
youknowitbeingasparslypopulatedarea..
J:Yes(.)yesithelped..
I:alsousedupindustrualarea
J:Itisthepeatlandisalmostmilledoutlike.So
it is unused land allot of it, so people are saying
whatharmisitdoinganybody.Andthebirdslike,
there where so many people on about the birds.
Theres a guy called Shaun O’ Farrel, you should
lookhimupdoingyour thesis. ShaunO’Farrelhe
worked on behalf of the government monitoring
172
thebirdsthereforthelast7or8yearsaroundthe
windfarms.Imethimresently,hetoldmehehad
onlymetonebirddeadundera turbine in the
last 8 years. And he said it was (.) it was (.) he
doesn’tknowifitwashitby(.)ithadamarkbuthe
doesn’t know it was hit by the turbine. It might
havebeenhitelsewhereandmade itas faras the
turbine. He said there was no evidence
anywhere that birds where being killed by
them.AllthisstuffabouttheHenHarrier.
Nonlethal
I:Ohyeah it causesabout2yearsofa checking if
it’s a Hen Harrier area. You have to have 1 or 2
yearsofchecking,tomakesurethatitsnoahighly
populousarea.
J:Acouncillorinarecouncil,MattieRyan,he’sa
realmountainyfellownearNenaghandhelives
where(.)heliveswiththeHenHarrierslikeup
inthemountains.Andhesaidinacouncilmeeting
one day, there was a fella going on about the
protectingHenHarriersandtheseturbines(.)oh::
sureMattiesays(inanoverthetopaccent)“aHen
Harrier can spot a mouse in the grass from 200
yards and there going to run into a turbine139m
high”(Laughter)….AHenHarrierwouldneverrun
into a turbine (.) sure if theywhere there forever
theywouldneverrunintoaturbine.Thereableto
travel atmassive speeds and pick out amouse at
200m(.)butsure look.Nowhavingsayingthat(.)
youhaveto(.)wecant(.)wehavetolookafterall
arespecies.
HenHarrier–rare
Europeanspeciesof
protectedbird.
EIA–
Debateastoturbine
impact
173
I: Yeahwehave over 33.3%of raised bogs in the
EU..
J:Wehave,andtherenotprotectedatallreally
(.)notatall(.)theyshouldbeprotected.
TheinterestingthingaswelliswhenBordNaMóna
builtawindturbinesbehindour(.)LisheenMines
ones.Theybuilt12of14more.BordNaMónahad
massiverowswiththecommunity(.)theyhave
nocorporatesocialresponsibility.
They felt like giving you a job was corporate
socialresponsibilityandtheygavenothingtothe
community (.) Imeannothing, andwe contacted
themyouknow,whatareyougoingtodowithyour
windturbines(.) liketheLisheenMineshadgiven
us (.)and itwasn’tmandatory inKilkenny and
Laois where they had (.) do you know when we
changedthecountydevelopmentplan?Theyhadn’t
beenchangedatthatstage.
Unprotectedecosystems
CSR=
Rightsoflocals-
I:Yeah.
J:Butthey,thefactthatLisheendidwhattheydid,
gave the contribution (.) there (Bord Na Móna)
doing the very same again. So there now giving a
voluntary donation every year to the local
communities.Andpeopleareveryhappy,theyare
hopingmorewillcomeupdownthere,aroundthat
area of Laois. Down towards your (.) country (.)
Clonmeenand(.)itgoesoffintheotherway.
BordNaMónafollowed
theLisheenminesexample
=
174
I:Yeahitwassurefrommygranny’shouse..
J:Who’syourgranny?
I:MygrannywasMaryWhelan.
J: Mary Whelan, who’s she now? Ah sure ill
probablyknow…
I: Sure you can check it up, but em:: sure iv been
looking(.)toyouknowtheAarhusConvention?
J:Pardon?
I:TheAarhusConvention?
J:No.
I: It’s basically one of these over arching
conventionswhereyouhavetohave(.)withinEU
lawtheyaretryingtomakeitthatyouhave,access
to information, access to decision making
processes and access to justice. As a person in
regardstotheenvironment.
J:Ineversawthat?
Noknowledgeofthe
convention=thoughonly
cameintoforceinIreland
2012.
I:Yeahthat’sthething,imlookingintothataswell,
its suppose to be (.) its Aarhus, thatwith twoAs.
It’s the second largest city in Denmark, it was a
conventionthatwasdonein2008(.)1998,Ithink
itonlycameintolawhereinthelate2000s.ButI’m
175
notentirelysurehowfixedinthelawitis,itskind
ofoneofthese(.)youknowit’saguidelineor…
J:YeahbuyyouseeinIrelandtheywillsayputupa
signnoticeyouknow,thenyoucango ifyouwish
to the planning authority. But that’s a bit unfair
becauseifsomeone…
I:Itsnotaccesstoinformation…
J:Itsnot,someoftheresidentsthatwerearound
thosewindfarmsah:wouldbeinthere80s.No
ideahowtouseacomputer.Wouldn’tbeableto
travel togo tomeetings.So theymightsee the
sign but they were totally isolated from that
typeofthing.
Critiqueofcurrent
informationaccess.
Ageissue=elderlywithno
computers–no
Notinclusiveparticipation.
Moreeffortsneeded.
I:Youseethat’salsowhatI’mlookinginto,because
you know you have windows to respond with
hearings and everything but (.) how long do you
need, and how often do you have someone to
engagewiththesepeople?
J:Realisticallytheyshould(.)sendacopy,make
a copyof theplanningpermission available in
your local community centre. Full access. In
thosesituations Iwouldbelieve that(.)and ifyou
did that everybody would come down.
Everybody.Youknowtheywouldcomeandhavea
look.
Possibleanswer=
Acopyoftheearlyscoping
report.
176
It should be there at all stages (.) if therewas
further information there should be a copy of
thatmadeavailable.
That,thatwouldbeaccesstoinformation.That
notdone.
Keepaconstantversion
available
Fullaccess
I: No. Its not. The other elements I’v been able to
gleamfromtheinterviewsivdoneisthattherehas
been access to justice and there is access to
decision making but to a certain degree. That’s
whatI’mresearching.
J:IdtellyouwhatengagementtheyhadbutIdon’t
know.
I:Thescoping..
J:Itprobablyhassome.Itprobablyhassome,Icant
remember.
I: I thought getting my hands on this would be
almostimpossible.
J:WellIgotmyhandsonthatasthelocalrep,soI
heldontoit.
I:Howmanycouncillorsarethere?
J: I’mtheonlyone(.) imtheonlyonearoundthat
area.
Actingalone
177
I:Sowhatareaisthat?
J:It’sMoyne/Templetuohyandallthatarea.
I:Andhowmanycouncillorsarethereoverall?
J: There’s 9 in the Thurles/ Roscrea municipal
district but I’m the only one between
Moyne/Templetuohy, Loughmore, Castleiney,
Drom and Borrisoleigh. All that area, An Gharraí,
Littleton. Itsabout12or14ruralparishes. Imthe
onlyonaroundthatarea.
Technicalpoliticalinfo
Onlyrepformanyparishes
I:That’sgreat,well it looked likeyouhelpedyour
communityanyway.
InterviewEnd.
178
10.3. Phenomenological Analysis: Horizonal Statements of
Participationandtheirreductions
10.3.1.MrTimBergin’sHorizonalStatementsofParticipation.
Horizonal Statement 1: “But in fairness em they would have information
eveningsatthetimeshowingthedevelopment,withalltheseturbinestheyhavea
(.) they have pictures andmontages of it, a view that way” and “showing what
they’rephysicallygoing to see.There’sgoing tobea turbine thereanda turbine
thereintothepicturessoyoucanlookanydirectionandsee”(Appendix,p.195)
HorizonalReduction1:Togivethemcredit,theydidhostinformationevenings
showing the development. They displayed representative images and different
perspectivesoftheproposedturbines.
HorizonalStatement2:“Iwouldhaveyeah.Iwouldhavehadaninterestinitand
akeeninterestinitstill.I’mtryingtogetintotheindustrybecauselookit(.)itsnot
maybegoingtogetabigasitwasbecauseof(.)Ithinkthisareaissaturatedwith
turbinesattheminuetsothere’snotgoingtobeawholelotmore.” (Appendix,p.
196)
Horizonal Reduction 2: Personally therewasakeen interest inparticipating
and maintain that participation. Partly for the possibility of employment
opportunitiesbutitsdoubtfulasthelocationissaturatedwithturbines.
Horizonal Statement 3: “Wewheretheninvolved inagroup, itwaspartofthe
planningapplicationthattheyhadto(.)hadtoengagewiththecommunity.Soa
groupwassetupthenanditservedtwopurposesbecausethemineswhereclosing
and itactually servedasa committee thatwheremeetingat themines forother
issues. It was only set up initially to get over this to have to engage with the
committeeso.ThisParishForumwassetup,Iwasonthecommittee(.)I’mchairof
itnowactually.”(Appendix,p.196)
179
HorizonalReduction3:Legallytheyhadtoengagewiththecommunity.They
formedacommunitygrouptodiscussthedevelopmentoftheturbines.Onlyset
up initially to get over this legal requirement. But expanded to tackle other
issues meeting at Lisheen mine HQ. Member at that point in 2008 and now
chairmanofthestillactive‘ParishForum’.
Horizonal Statement4: “Butbecausethemineswheregoingdoingit,theforum
wassetupthoughtheminestherewasacoupleworkingthey’reinvolvedinitand
thenbasically all the (.) any organisation in theparishwas set a letter about it.
Sayingcome to themeeting foracommittee tobe setup, chair set thewhole lot
andwecontinuedonthensince.”(Appendix,p.198)
Horizonal Reduction 4: The forum initially made up of mine workers had
letters where sent out to local organisations asking to attend to create a
communityforum.It’scontinuedoneversince.
Horizonal Statement 5: “Beneficial like? (Engagement/meetings) Yeah it was
yeah.LookI’vebeenatthatoneivbeenattheextension,IwasattheBordNaMóna
one.Lookit’sthesamethingImeanlike,youcangoinandseewherethey’regoing,
how its going to affect whatever’s around you em: what its going to look like.
There’snotmuchmoretheycantellyoureally.”(Appendix,p.199)
Horizonal Reduction 5: The engagement has been beneficial but Iv been to
threedifferenttheinformationmeetingsthey’reallthesame.Yougoinandsee
where they’re going andwhat affect they are going to have. “There’snotmuch
moretheycantellyoureally.”(Appendix,p.199)
Horizonal Statement 6: “It(funding)wouldhavebeenexplainedbutnotinany
great detail at the early stages. I think at the minuet it’s a:: it’s a condition of
planning.Sothere’snowayoutofitnow.”(Appendix,p.197)
180
Horizonal Reduction 6: In the early stages participation the funding wasn’t
explainedmuch.Thecompanyhastodofundtheparish.
Horizonal Statement 7: “Wewouldn’thave(…..) itwasaconditionofplanning
that they have to engagewith the community now (.) that probably in different
areas took different forms because, is engaging with the community having an
openeveningandlettingthemknowaboutitandcanyousay“rightwedidthisand
signedover”.(Appendix,p.198)
HorizonalReduction7:Itwasaconditionofplanningthattheyhadtoengage.
Itevolveddifferently indifferentareas.“Isengagingwiththecommunityhaving
anopeneveningandlettingthemknowaboutitandcanyousay,“rightwedidthis
andsignedover”(Appendix,p.198).
HorizonalStatement8:“WellIonlyknewaboutitbecausetheminesapproached
us to set up this committee like.” “is the information even enough to say you
engagedwiththecommunityordotheyhavetosetupacommittee?Idon’tknow.”
(Appendix,p.201)
HorizonalReduction8: Ifoundoutearlyastheminesapproachedmetojoin.
“istheinformationevenenoughtosayyouengagedwiththecommunityordothey
havetosetupacommittee?Idon’tknow.”(Appendix,p.201)
Horizonal Statement 9: “Em personally, sure I’m involved in a lot of different
organisations and everything from schools to the church to the GAA to the, you
knowtheyallbenefitfromit.Anditsfundraisingthatacluborparishdoesn’thave
to do. The only gain is the financial gain for a parish like. If we didn’t get the
contribution,youcantalkaboutgreenenergybutlike,youknow,whocareswhere
theyareproducinggreenenergy.Theydon’thavetobeinyourbackyard.Unless
thereisafinancialgainforacommunitythereisnobenefitforthembeingthere.”
(Appendix,p.206)
181
Horizonal Reduction 9: Being very active in the locality from church to GAA
theyallseethebenefitfromtheturbines.Greenenergyasideifitwasn’tforthe
financialgainfortheparishthereisnobenefitforthembeinghere.
HorizonalStatement10:“Em:Iwouldhaveseenthem(.)astheywentupIwould
haveseenthemaspossibilityofgettingajoboutofthem.Maybenotlike,buteither
way,eitherwaytheyneverbotheredmelike.YouknowIthinkthey’reelegant.Tis
downtoeveryone’sopinionisn’tit.”(Appendix,p.209)
HorizonalReduction10:Theycouldhavebeenseenasthepossibilityofajob
“either way they never bothered me like. You know I think they’re opposed to
intrusive.Tisdowntoeveryone’sopinionisn’tit.”(Appendix,p.209)
10.3.2.MrRichardDaly’sHorizonalStatementsofParticipation
Horizonal Statement 1: “When they put up the eh (.) initial ones there was
always,theycamedowntolocalinthe(.)Ithinkbypartofthereplanningtheyhad
to contact locals in the immediate (.) close to the vicinity of it. So itwas sitting
downlikethisinakitchenandweaskedthemthequestionlikeifyougetplanning
permissionforthe18or22atthetimewilltherebeacapacitytoputupmore?And
they quite rightly said yeah, because themine has degraded and itmakesmore
senselikeyeah.Itwasalwaysinthebackofmyheadthattheywantedtoputthem
up.”(Appendix,p.213)
Horizonal Reduction 1: Planning stipulated engagement with locals directly
affected. “So it was sitting down like this in a kitchen and we asked them the
questionlikeifyougetplanningpermissionforthe18or22atthetimewillthere
be a capacity to put up more?” (Appendix, p213). The expansion was always
goingtohappen.
HorizonalStatement2:“Isupposeithastotakedifferentsteps.”“ehduringparts
oftheplanningtherewasIthinkoneifnottwopublicmeetings.Soitwasatthat
thenwhenyouheardeveryoneelse’sviews.AndIknowinitiallybecausetherehand
182
been no turbines, initially there was allot of questions where asked because its
somethingnew.Sotherewasabitofah:: Iwouldn’tsaynegativitybuttherewas
certainlyanawfullotofah::(.)questionsaskedthatneededtobeaskedandwhich
wereanswered.”(Appendix,p.213)
HorizonalReduction2:Therewereoneortwopublicmeetingsthatfacilitated
discussionofeveryone’sviews.Withnopreviousexperiencewithwindturbines
therewasallotofquestions. “Sotherewasabitofah::Iwouldn’tsaynegativity
but therewascertainlyanawful lotofah:: (.)questionsasked thatneeded tobe
askedandwhichwereanswered”(Appendix,p.213)
Horizonal Statement 3: “Its not until there actually up (.) you know we all
thoughtthiswasgoingtobeshockingandnoiseandtheflicker(.)whateverbutno
they slipped in handy enough like. It was part probably the unknown really.”
(Appendix3,p.123)
HorizonalReduction3:Onlyafterseeingtheminplaceandactiveyourealised
thatitwasprobablytheunknownthatwascausingthehesitation.
HorizonalStatement4:“Certainlyworriedyeah.Defiantlyyeah.Becauselookit,
anyinformationissoaccessibleandit’ssoeasytogethereandreadaboutthebad
newsstoryofwindturbinesbreakingorgoingon fireorwhatever likeyouknow
whatImean.”(Appendix,p.214)
Horizonal Reduction 4: The locality was worried yeah. Information is so
accessibleandeasytoreadbadnewsstoriesof“windturbinesbreakingorgoing
onfireorwhateverlikeyouknowwhatImean”(Appendix,p.214).
Horizonal Statement5:“Afterlivinginherenow(.)ahsurewehavebeenliving
here since2000 right so say15years. Sowe can see (.)wewereherebefore the
turbines and we were here for the construction of turbines and where here
obviouslywhentheturbinesaregoing.Andlookit(.)I’vethreechildrenanddoyou
knowwhat Imean, its not that I’m going to do anything thatwould be (.) that
183
they’llhavehealthreasonsfromtheseturbinesorwhatever.Solook,surethey’reas
goodasanyotherkitaroundtheplace.There’snoilleffectsbasicallyinregardsto
healthandthatbecausewewouldbe(.)”(Appendix,p.214).
HorizonalReduction5: “Wewereherebeforetheturbinesandwewereherefor
theconstructionofturbinesandwe’rehereobviouslywhentheturbinesaregoing.
“I’ve three children and do you knowwhat Imean” (Appendix, p. 214). I’m not
goingdoanythingtoputtheirhealthatrisk.
HorizonalStatement6: “Oksofromgreenfieldrightso,ifyoucouldtakeitthat
you’rethecontractorandI’mthefarmer.Sooutofrespectyoucan’t justcomein
androaroverand tellmewhat todoandall this. So there’sproperconsultation
andinfairnesslikeeventhepracticalthingswhenthey’resayingwheretheroadis
goingorwhatever.I’dhavewatertroughsandwaterfittingsandelectriccurrents
going to stock cattle. They worked withme.” “But it was all excellent where (.)
becauseofthe5that’swereonthisfarmwewereabletojigaroundthelayoutof
thefields.”(Appendix,p.215)
HorizonalReduction6:Asafarmer,thebuildingcontractor“outofrespectyou
can’t just come in and roar over and tell me what to do.” There was proper
consultationand in fairness theyworkedwithme. “Becauseofthe5thatwhere
on this farmwewhereable to jigaround the layoutof the fields.” (Appendix, p.
215)
Horizonal Statement 7: “Yeah, Yeah. Definitely yeah. Yeah on the ground like.
You know there was always going to be a road coming in its in the planning
permission but. Just to jig it around. I know they had an impact statement on a
badgersettandtheroadhadtobemovedoutfromwherethebadgerswere.Look
itwiththebestwillintheworldIwouldhavepreferrediftheroadwastuckedin
niceandneatbesidetheditchbutlookitthere’sbadgersthereweworkedaroundit
andthat’sitlikeyeahknow.Soyeahlittlethinglikethattheywereverygoodlike”
(Appendix,p.216)
184
Horizonal Reduction 7:We definitely had a role in decisions made on the
ground.Butanimpactstatementonabadgersettcausedtheroadtobemoved
from where I would have liked it to be. “but look it there’s badgers there we
workedaround it and that’s it like yeahknow. So yeah little thing like that they
wereverygoodlike”(Appendix,p.216).
Horizonal Statement 8: “You see in the first phase right people (.) it was the
unknown really. Thiswas something new coming in right. So second phase then
people realised that they where running for five years or whatever four or five
years maybe it was more I forget. So there was more acceptance then for the
secondphase.Therewasmoreconcernsbecauseoftheuncertaintyoftheunknown.
Thatwasitlikeyeah.”(Appendix,p.216)
HorizonalReduction8:Therewasachangeinacceptanceforthesecondphase
after5yearsofthefirstphaserunning. “Therewasmoreconcernsbecauseofthe
uncertaintyoftheunknown”(Appendix,p.216).
Horizonal Statement 9: “We’re living in a community and as best will in the
worldwe’dliketogetonwitheverybodyaswellaswecould,wedon’tliketoupset
people.But in fairnesswehaveanother farmacross the roadbut (.) calleddairy
blockandwewhereapproachedtoputaturbineonthatfarmbutwithareviewwe
saidlookitwethoughitmightimpacttomuchonareneighbours.Becauseitsmore
populatedover(.)onthefarmacrosstheroad.Wedeclinedonthatoffertoputa
turbineoverthere.”(Appendix,p.216-217)
Horizonal Reduction 9: “We’re living in a community and as best will in the
worldwe’dliketogetonwitheverybodyaswellaswecould,wedon’tliketoupset
people”(Appendix,p.216).Wehadanotherfarmbutinfairnesswedeclinedto
putaturbineonthatfarmasitmighthaveimpactedtheneighbours.“Soweput
up five turbines here and both neighbouring farmers put up one as well”
(Appendix,p.217).
185
Horizonal Statement 10: “I’mactuallyonthatcommittee,it’scalledthe‘Parish
Form’ and when the money comes in its actually fantastic because I’m involved
withanathleticclubhereinMoyneaswell”(Appendix,p.219).
Horizonal Reduction 10: I'm actually on that committee its called the Parish
Forum. I seehow themoneybenefits the athletics club inMoyne that I’malso
involvedwith.
Horizonal Statement 11: “Yeah,itwas(.)lookit(..)therewasalwaysprobably
committeesthereIsupposeasregardstomanagingthemoneyitobviouslywasset
upbecauseofthewindturbines”(Appendix,p.220).
Horizonal Reduction 11: There have always been committees here but in
“regards to managing the money it obviously was set up because of the wind
turbines”(Appendix,p.220).
HorizonalStatement12:“AsfarasIknowthecouncilinNorthTipperarywould
be unique as (.)when the turbines started off initially, I think jeez this one here
certainlycouldhavebeenoneofthefirst inNorthTipperary.Sothecouncilwere
lookingatustoseehowwewerereacting.Andtheprosandconsofeverythingelse
going forward, so theyactually tooka leaf out of ourbook.When they sawhow
well this, the community worked quite well together in getting these sums of
money.”(Appendix,p.221)
HorizonalReduction12:“AsfarasIknowthecouncilinNorthTipperarywould
be unique as (.)when the turbines started off initially, I think jeez this one here
certainlycouldhavebeenoneofthefirst inNorthTipperary.Sothecouncilwere
lookingatustoseehowwewerereacting.”Theyassessedtheprocessand“when
theysawhowwellthis,thecommunityworkedquitewelltogetheringettingthese
sumsofmoney.”(Appendix,p.221)
Horizonal Statement 13: “My experience look it. I'm from the area so like I
supposeI’mcertainlookmaybeithasmaybeithasn’t.Somemightsayithassome
186
mightsay ithasn’t.Lookit, id liketofeel ithas.Certainlywith localcommunities
you know, and being part of the ‘Parish Forum’, allocatingmoney every year is
certainlyyouknowit’snice toknowthere’sgood jobsdoneandthemoneysbeen
spentcorrectlylike,youknowwhatImean.Solookitidliketosee,I’mnotlooking
foranycreditbutI’dliketoseeifitwasdoneahappreciatedlikeyouknow.Solike
yeah,Ahhlookit.Yeah.I'mtoomodest.”(Appendix,p.222)
HorizonalReduction13:Hasmyexperiencehelpedthecommunitywellmaybe
ithasormaybeithasn’t.ButI’mfromthearea“beingpartofthe‘ParishForum’,
allocatingmoney every year is certainly you know it’s nice to know there’s good
jobsdoneandthemoneysbeenspentcorrectlylike,youknowwhatImean”….“I’m
notlookingforanycreditbutI’dliketoseeifitwasdoneahappreciatedlikeyou
know”(Appendix,p.222).
10.3.3.MrPaddyDoyleHorizonalStatementsofParticipation
HorizonalStatement1:“Yes(.)IIIIthinktheinitialwordwasthroughwordof
mouthnotthoughameetingoraletteroranything.“Sopeoplestartedtoresearch
theideaandlookintoiftherewasanynegativeeffectstoitbecauselikethemedia
hadsomenegativepress.ButIsupposeafewpeoplestartedtoresearchitandlook
intoit.”(Appendix,p.230)
HorizonalReduction1:“Theinitialwordwasthroughwordofmouthnotthough
ameetingoraletteroranything”(Appendix,p.230).Peopleresearchedandlook
intoittoseeiftherewhereanynegativeeffectsfromthemasithasbeenshown
inthemedia.
HorizonalStatement2:“Wellatthetimewhentheturbineswherebeingmooted
therewasanactiongroupwhereformedtokindofreallytoinquire(.)theyweren’t
an anti turbine group. But theywhere just set up to (.) em: (.) to find outmore
informationreally.IsupposeIwentdownouteh:ofcuriosityIsupposeasmuchas
anythingelse justtoseewhatwasgoingonthere.Andthenwhentheydidem: it
187
turned up very little really that therewas very little negative about it and then
went planning did go ahead andwe saw that thiswaswhat the conditions eh:”
(Appendix,p.231)
HorizonalReduction2:“Atthetimewhentheturbineswherebeingmootedthere
wasanactiongroupwhereformedtokindofreallytoinquire(.)theyweren’tan
antiturbinegroup.”But theyaimed to findmore information. “IsupposeIwent
downouteh:ofcuriosityIsupposeasmuchasanythingelse”(Appendix,p.231).It
turnedupverylittlenegativefindingsandsuretheplanningwentahead.
HorizonalStatement3:“Iwentdownandehacommitteeof17whereemwhere
elected I suppose as such on the night. And it was set up and then an annual
general meetingwas formedwas called after that and it kind of just gradually
grew the format of how it operateswas kind of organic really it (.) emerged as
needsbekindof.”(Appendix,p.232)
Horizonal Reduction 3: At the initial parish forummeeting a committeewas
elected“itwassetupandthenanannualgeneralmeetingwasformedwascalled
afterthatanditkindofjustgraduallygrewtheformatofhowitoperateswaskind
oforganicreallyit(.)emergedasneedsbekindof.”(Appendix,p.232)
Horizonal Statement 4: “I kind of vaguely remembermeetingwith the people
beforetheLisheenturbineswheresetup.”(Appendix,p.233)
HorizonalReduction4:Takenasverbatim.
Horizonal Statement 5: “Yeah the LisheenMinewould have been (.) since the
timeIhadbeensetupreallyhavebeenquiteopenwith..with…withthepeopleatall
stagesofitsowndevelopmentofwhatitwasdoingandwhatitintendedtodo.And
thathasworkedverywell.”(Appendix,p.233)
188
HorizonalReduction5:SincethetimeitwassetuptheLisheenMineswhere
quiteopenwiththepeopleatallstagesofthedevelopment.Stating,“whatitwas
doingandwhatitintendedtodo”(Appendix,p.233)Thisworkedverywell.
HorizonalStatement6:“ButanotherminejustinGalmoyMinelessthen10miles
away, set up before LisheenMine and itwas operated on a tell themas little as
possible basis as it seems to me. And everything seemed go work against them
whereas, (.) the LisheenMine kind of adapted a (Minorco Lisheen) the different
companiesthatowneditsinceitwasfirstkindof(.)theorewasfirstfound.They’ve
operated on amuchmore open basis with the community and it seems to have
workedanawfullotbetter.”(Appendix,p.233-234)
Horizonal Reduction 7: Compared with other local mines, Lisheen Mines
cooperationhas“operatedonamuchmoreopenbasiswiththecommunityandit
seemstohaveworkedanawful lotbetter.” “Andsowhen itcameto the turbines
they adopted the same kind of system really. They did inform us and there was
meeting.”(Appendix,p.233-234)
HorizonalStatement8:“Oh::yeahtheydidyeah::theLisheenMinehavebeen
verygoodtoengage(.)Ifeelyeah.”(Appendix,p.234)
HorizonalReduction8:TheLisheenMinewereverygoodatengagingwiththe
public.
Horizonal Statement 9: “Yeah like openness defiantly seems to haveworked
likethereare(.)likeI’vesaidthattheGalmoymines(.)becausethelocalsbacked
up (.) because the thingswhere done and then they tried to explainwhy they
wheredone.(.)Thenyouknow::there’sno()andnogoingbackthenanditsvery
hardtoallaypeoplesfearsafterwardswhenitstoolate.WhentheLisheenMine
kindofseemedtohave(.)kindofgivenusthechancetoaskquestionsandthings
like that and then (.) they where ahh (.) you know:: it was it was quite open
really.”(Appendix,p.234)
189
HorizonalReduction9: “Yeah likeopennessdefiantlyseemstohaveworked”
it’s easier to allay fears before things a constructed then after the fact. “the
Lisheen Mine kind of seemed to have (.) kind of given us the chance to ask
questionsandthingslikethat”(Appendix,p.234)
Horizonal Statement 10: “Isupposeeh::theywereaskeenaskeepingthething
rightaswewere.”(Appendix,p.235).
HorizonalReduction10:Takenasverbatim.
Horizonal Statement 11: “I can’t remember anymeeting taking place for the
secondphase”,therewasnorealissueswithit(Appendix,p.235).
HorizonalReduction11:Takenasverbatim.
HorizonalStatement12:“Yesinfairnesslikemostpeople(.)acertainnumberof
people,Isupposemorethanhalfofthepeopleontheforumwouldhavebeen,em::
haveavestedinterestinsomeorganisation,morepracticallyallofthemreally.But
in general at the meeting there was a general fairness and eh a kind of ah
responsibilitytothecommunityasmuchasanything.”(Appendix,p.236)
HorizonalReduction12:Infairnessmorethenhalfofthepeopleontheforum
hadavestedinterestinsomeorganisation.Buttherewasageneralfairnessand
“akindofahresponsibilitytothecommunityasmuchasanything.”(Appendix,p.
236).
Horizonal Statement 13: “Yes theydid. Theywhere comprehensive and they
hada followupon thework that, youknow I thinkeveryone ishappyas they
couldbewithit.Youknow.”(Appendix,p.238)
HorizonalReduction13:AALMLtdengagedinallphasesofdevelopment“they
werecomprehensiveandtheyhadafollowupontheworkthat,youknowIthink
everyoneishappyastheycouldbewithit.Youknow.”(Appendix,p.238)
190
HorizonalStatement14:“WellIwashappyenoughtodoitI’mjust(.)I’malways
involved in communityprojectsaroundhere so youknow its justanother (.) just
another(.)kindoflocaldevelopmentIsupposeprojectreally(.)I’mjusthappyto
beinvolved”(Appendix,p.238).
HorizonalReduction14:Iwashappytodoit“I’mjust(.)I’malwaysinvolvedin
community projects around here”…“I’m just happy to be involved” (Appendix, p.
238).
10.3.4.Cllr.JohnHogan’sHorizonalStatementsofParticipation
Horizonal Statement 1: “Firstofallwhen thiswind farmwas suggestedem(.)
theycontactedme,theLisheenMineswhichwastheirfirststep.AndI’mapublic
rep,nowtheyaskedmehowIfeltandIfelttherewouldbeplentyofobjectionsto
it.”(Appendix,p.239)
HorizonalReduction1:AsapublicrepIwascontactedwhenthenwindfarm
wassuggested.Theywanted toknowhow I felt. “Ifelttherewouldbeplentyof
objectionstoit.”(Appendix,p.239)
Horizonal Statement 2: “I said idagreewith it so theysaidthatwhatthey felt
thatweshoulddoistosetupa‘ParishForum’,whichwasanexcellentideabecause
that Parish Forum was set up for to deal with this wind turbine thing, and its
working ever since. Sowe set up a Parish Forum to discuss thewhole thing and
havea formalparishstructure forsomething likethiscoming inbecause itcould
haveadetrimentaleffectwedidn’tknowyousee.Theproblemisignorance(.)an
awfullotofpeoplehaven’taclue.Theythinkit’sgoingtodothemharm,butthey
don’treallyknow.”(Appendix,p.240)
Horizonal Reduction 2: AALM Ltd felt that they should set up this Parish
Forum,whichwasanexcellent idea. “SowesetupaParishForumtodiscussthe
wholethingandhavea formalparishstructureforsomethinglikethiscomingin
191
becauseitcouldhaveadetrimentaleffectwedidn’tknowyousee.Theproblemis
ignorance(.)anawfullotofpeoplehaven’taclue.Theythinkit’sgoingtodothem
harm,buttheydon’treallyknow”(Appendix,p.240).
HorizonalStatement3:“SowesetuptheParishForumandweelected15or16
people.Everyonecametothemeetingeveryonewasallowedtosuggestsomebody
andthehighest16cametothevoteandgotelectedwhatever.Sothenwestarted
todiscussthe issues.Sothe firstthingwedidwaswewentaroundandlookedat
variouswindfarmsaroundthecountry”(Appendix,p.240).
Horizonal Reduction 3: Sowesetup theparish forumandelectedmembers.
“Everyonecametothemeetingeveryonewasallowedtosuggestsomebodyandthe
highest16cametothevoteandgotelected”(Appendix,p.240).
Horizonal Statement 4: “WhathappenedwasIwenttothemines,andIsaidto
them,what’s initforthelocalcommunity?”“Themanagerofthemineisaclever
old fella(.)agreatman forcorporatesocialresponsibility. In fairness tohim.He
said that “if you could work it through the planning process”. So I went to the
plannersandIsaidcanyouputinacondition,thattheyhavetogivesomuchper
turbineperyeartothecommunity.Theplannersays“Jesuswecantdothatunless
someoneaskesustodothat.Ithastocomefromthepublicasasubmission”.SoI
wenttothelocalmeetingsanywayandIsuggested(.)Ishouldhavewaitedawhile
(.)thatweshouldputinasubmissionlookingforsomethingfortheseturbines.SoI
was booed and hissed as the local councillor putting up the white flag. The
followingmorning Iwokeupand therewasposters at the endofmy lane “local
councillorsshouldsupportlocalpeople”(Appendix,p.241).
HorizonalReduction4: “What’sinitforthelocalcommunity?”Themanagerof
the mines being aware of corporate social responsibility pointed us towards
using theplanningprocess toget some financial compensation for community.
Only a public submission could ask for this. “So I went to the local meetings
anywayandIsuggested(.)Ishouldhavewaitedawhile(.)thatweshouldputina
192
submissionlookingforsomethingfortheseturbines.SoIwasbooedandhissedas
thelocalcouncillorputtingupthewhiteflag”(Appendix,p.241).
Horizonal Statement 5: “SoIwenttothenextmeeting,anywaytheysaidtome
“againyoucannotsendinanapplication(.)theysaidyoudon’trepresentus”.Even
though I’m the only councillor in the area, there’s no one else. So I said who
represents you. So who represents the parish? They said the parish priest
representsus(.)that’swhattheysaid”(Appendix,p.241).
HorizonalReduction5:Inthenextmeetingtheysaid,“againyoucannotsendin
an application (.) they said you don’t represent us”. Even though I’m the only
councillor in the area, there’s no one else. So I saidwho represents you. Sowho
representstheparish?Theysaidtheparishpriestrepresentsus(Appendix,p.241).
HorizonalStatement6:“Theparishpriestisaveryquiteman,FrMurphy(.)very
quiteman.”“SoeventuallyIhadtosendinasubmission,andIdid it.Lookingfor
40,000peryearfromtheturbines.”(Appendix,p.242)
Horizonal Reduction 6: FrMurphy the Parish priest is a very quiteman, “so
eventuallyIhadtosendinasubmission,andIdidit.Lookingfor40,000peryear
fromtheturbines”(Appendix,p.242).
HorizonalStatement7:“Ifeelitwasminimal.”[Participation]“Itwasminimal.It
was good but it was still minimal. It was better than we had in a lot of things
beforehand.Youknowthere’sallotofplanningpermissionsforvariousprojectswe
hear nothing. At least the held open meetings in local community centres and
invitedpeopleintohavealookatit”(Appendix,p.245).
Horizonal Reduction 7: I feel the engagement with the community was
minimal.“Itwasgoodbutitwasstillminimal.Itwasbetterthanwehadinalotof
things beforehand. You know there’s allot of planning permissions for various
projects we hear nothing. At least the held open meetings in local community
centresandinvitedpeopleintohavealookatit”(Appendix,p.245).
193
HorizonalStatement8:“Onthatnighttheydidyes.Theydid(distributeleaflets).
Well I felt (.) I shouldhavehad thosebut Idon’tknowwhere theyare.But I felt
maybetheyshouldhavemaybecontactedindividualobjectorsandtalkedtothem
abouttheirconcerns.Maybegoonatripwiththe(.)whenwewentoffwehireda
busandwewent to lookmaybe comewithus.Talk to thepeople, bepart of us”
(Appendix,p.245).
HorizonalReduction8:Onthenightofthemeetingstheydiddistributeleaflets
but“Ifeltmaybetheyshouldhavemaybecontactedindividualobjectorsandtalked
tothemabouttheirconcerns.Maybegoonatripwiththe(.)whenwewentoffwe
hiredabusandwewenttolookmaybecomewithus.Talktothepeople,bepartof
us”(Appendix,p.245).
HorizonalStatement9:“Itbecameathemandusratherthen,welllet’sjustdo
thisforeverybody,you’regoingtogainoutofitandwe'regoingtogainoutofit.
Everybodygainsinthefinishthat’stherealityandwegainasanationwiththe
useofgreenenergy”(Appendix,p.245).
HorizonalReduction9:Usedverbatim
HorizonalStatement10:“I’dsayiftheLisheenMinewasbackagaintheywould
have learned from their experience. Youknowprobably,more engagement.They
madeagood stabat it.Maybe setup the forum first and invite them inand say
wherethinkingofdoingawindfarm.Tellthemwhatthebenefitsofit.”(Appendix,
p.248).
HorizonalReduction10:Usedverbatim
194
10.4.Appendix:FullInterviewTranscriptions
InterviewTranscriptionsLegend (.)–Pause
(A–overlapofwhattheresaying
:: - Prolongation of the immediately
priorsound.
Italics–stressingthepoint
()–Inabilitytohearwhatwassaid
I:-Interviewer
T:TimBergin,
R:RichardDaly,
P:PaddyDoyle,
J:JohnHogan.
10.4.1.In-DepthInterviewTranscriptions~LisheenWindFarmParticipants
Interviewee: TimBergin–ChairmanoftheParishForum,Localresidentandminer.
Location: November5th2015-Templetuohy,Co.Tipperary.
Qualityoftechnology: Soundqualitygood,enabledperfecttranscription
Legend I:Interviewer
T:TimBergin
I:I’minterestedinyourexperiencesoftheparticipationwithinthedevelopment
of the project andwhen I say project I mean thewhole thing from 2009, the
wholething.
195
T: My only involvement with it is, living locally and working. I don’t have
anythingphysicallytodowiththem.
I:Ohok.
T:Em2008/2009suretheminesthemselvesputintheplanningforit.Themine
didn’tdevelopitthentheysoldittoSWS(.)theywhereCorkbasedem(.)there
wasabigantiwindfarmmovementatthetimethen.Therewasagendas,where
people involved with that who had no interest being involved with it (wind
farm).ThewholeotherendoftheparishMoyne,puttingupthe8x4placards.But
lookIknowpeoplethatgotropedintoinbecausesomeoftheirneighboursfelt
very strongly about it and they felt that (.) do you know (.) didn’twant to be
lettingthesidedown.Butlookit(.)that’sneitherherenorthere.Therewasan
anti em:: (.) development still went ahead, they got the planning. 18 turbines
wentdownfirst.
I:I’mjustwonderingwhendidyoufirsthearaboutit?
T: I heard about it because Iwasworking in themines. They said theywhere
lookingforplanning.Surelookitwasgeneralknowledgethenthereonceitcame
out. But in fairness em: they would have information evenings at the time
showing the development, with all these turbines they have a (.) they have
picturesandmontagesofitaviewthatway(pointstotheleft)andshowingwhat
they’rephysicallygoingtosee.There’sgoingtobeaturbinethereandaturbine
there in thepictures soyou can lookanydirectionand see. Lookoutmyback
windowitsprobably(.)probably2milesIsupposeasthecrowflies.Thenearest
ofthemyoucanseeitoutthere.(.)Neverbotheredmefromdayoneanyway.So
itneverreallyitwasn’tanissueforme.
I:Sodidyougotothemeetingsthen?
T:Iwouldhaveyeah.Iwouldhavehadaninterestinitandakeeninterestinit
still.I’mtryingtogetintotheindustrybecauselookit(.)itsnotmaybegoingto
196
getabigasitwasbecauseof(.)Ithinkthisareaissaturatedwithturbinesatthe
minuet so there’s not going to be a whole lot more. But ah I would have an
interestinitfromthatpointofview.Ineversawthemasanissue.Noiseor..
I:Ok,likethesightofit…
T: The sight of it like look (.) the fact that there on low lying land, there very
easily em: (.) youwould be driving down a road and then you cant see them.
Whereaswhenthereputuponawholerangeofhills,theystandoutfromevery
direction.WhereasIgouptothecrossandIcantseethemandyougoanother
halfmile and you can see the lot of them. And then gone again another three
stopsorwhatever.Ithinkthelowlyingland(.)theycanbeconcealedeasily.
I: Soyoustartedparticipating throughreceiving informationabout it thenyou
wenttothemeetings…
T:Wewhere then involved in a group, itwaspart of theplanning application
that theyhad to (.) had to engagewith the community. So a groupwas set up
thenanditservedtoopurposesbecausethemineswhereclosinganditactually
servedasacommitteethatwheremeetingattheminesforotherissues.Itwas
onlysetupinitiallytogetoverthistohavetoengagewiththecommitteeso.This
ParishForumwassetup,Iwasonthecommittee(.)I’mchairofitnowactually,
but..
I:Soisitstillactive?
T:Yeah,Yeah(.)em:
I:Howmanymemberswouldyouhave?
T: Oh sure there’s probably thirty on the committee. Em but the big benefit
communitywisewas(.)isthefundingyougetfortheturbineslike.
197
I:Sodidtheyexplainthat,thefundingissue?Ordidthatcomeinlater?
T:Itwouldhavebeenexplainedbutnotinanygreatdetailattheearlystages.I
thinkattheminuetit’sa::it’saconditionofplanning.Sothere’snowayoutofit
now.Whereasbeforewiththeseitwasuptothecompanywhethertheywanted
togive theparishmoneyorwhatever.Em: (…)a€1,000permegawatt isn’t it.
That’s the standard thing now. Sowe had 18 turbines starting out, our initial
fundorpotcallitwhatyouwantwas€30,000peryear.
I:AndhowwidewouldthatbecommunitywisebecauseyouhaveMoyneand..
T: Yeah emwe actually allocatedmoney last night for the present year (.) so
basicallywhatwedoiswesetoutanoticeinthenewsletterorwhateverlocally.
All theclubsknowabout itknow, it iskeptwithinMoyne/Templetuohywithin
theparish.Theyknewthesecondphaseofitwentup,another12sothere’s30
turbinessowehavesomethingintherangeof€53,000or€55,000ayearnow.
I:That’shuge!
T:TheotherturbinesthelatestonestogoupagainBruckanaBordnaMóna.
I: Yeah, Yeah I originally got confusedwith them, I thought theywhere these
ones.
T:Didyeah,Haha(laughter).Sowehave, there’sanotherpotof€40,000there
whichisdividedbetweenMoyne/TempletuohyandCrosspatrick.Soyoucansay
70oddthousand(€70,000).
I:Inageneralareainashortperiodoftime…
T: InashortperiodoftimeforIdon’tknowwewheredebatingwhetheritwas
15or20yearsorthelifeoftheturbinewhicheverisfirst.Lookfromafinancial
pointofviewtherewasahugebenefitfortheparishlike.Imeanitwasserious
198
money like. Some of the initial objectors for the first phase have turbines on
therelandinthesecondphase.
I:AndwouldtheybethefewthatareovertherebypastMoyneontheroad…
T:Ontheothersideoftheroadyeah,yeah.There’s4or5ofthemIthinkonone
particular fellas land.Nowhewouldhavebeenonthecommittee.Nowhemay
havegottendraggedintoitIdon’tknow.ButImeantherehasbeenvideosdone
fromSWSandthenitwasownedbyBordGáisandnowitsBrookfield,itsbeen
soldafewtimes.ItwasactuallydonebySWSapromotionalvideodoneandsure
Iwasonit, Ihavenoobjectiontoit.Thisfellawasonit,andhesaidhehadno
issuessayinghedidobjecttothembutoncetheywhereup,youknowtheissues
withnoise(.)Ithinkisamyth(.)andtheflicker(.)yesitdoesexistandifyour,if
theyareverynearyou.It’sthefirsttimeyouseeityourwondering(.)itislike(.)
intense, its fucking intense like. But it comes and goes id saywithin a half an
hour,anhourmaxitwouldlast.Becauseyouknowthesunwouldmove.Flicker
canbeanissuebutthenoisething(.)Ithinkno,notabitlike.
I: So when you where being involved with the community part, did they
(development company) structure it? Did they help you structure it or was it
moreofyourcommunitysteppinguptoorganiseit?
T:Wewouldn’thave(…..)itwasaconditionofplanningthattheyhavetoengage
withthecommunitynow(.)thatprobablyindifferentareastookdifferentforms
because, is engaging with the community having an open evening and letting
themknowaboutitandcanyousay“rightwedidthisandsignedover”.
But because themineswhere goingdoing it, the forumwas set up though the
minestherewasacoupleworkingthey’reinvolvedinitandthenbasicallyallthe
(.) any organisation in the parishwas set a letter about it. Saying come to the
meetingforacommitteetobesetup,chairsetthewholelotandwecontinued
onthensince.
199
I:Wouldyouthinkthat thewaytheydidtherightwedidthisandsignedover
withmeetingsandanyinformationtheyleafleteddoyouthinkthatwaseffective
or….?
T: Beneficial like? Yeah it was yeah. Look I’v been at that one iv been at the
extension,IwasattheBordNaMónaone.Lookit’sthesamethingImeanlike,
you can go in and seewhere they’re going, how its going to affectwhatever’s
aroundyouem:whatitsgoingtolooklike.There’snotmuchmoretheycantell
youreally.
I:Yeah()..
T: Now there are probably other places that went up that haven’t gotten the
colourofmoneywhere getting.Becausemaybe the committeewas setup in a
strongerway, thereasonwhyarecommittee isasstrongas it is (.)was itwas
directlyinvolvedwiththemines.Whereasthedevelopers(.)theBordNaMónas
theymightn’tput the sameeffort into it. I don’t know.Maybe theywillmaybe
theywont.
I:Anddoyouknowofanyfurtherplansoranythingthatwillcontinue?
T:Thereisaplanningpermissiongotforanother8or9,Lisheen3they’recalling
it.It’sthefarsideoftheBordNaMónaone.SowheneverthatgoesaheadIdon’t
know.Youknowwiththewindcapacity.
I:Butyouwheresayingthatbetweenstageoneandstagetwothattheprotesters
forthefirstphaseactuallybecamelessinthesecond.
T:Therewasnoprotestthesecondtime.Someoftheprotestershadturbinesput
ontheirland.
I:Ok(.)sotheyrealisedthebenefit.
200
T:Wellthey(.)haha(.)theyrealisedthebenefitbutIsupposeyoucansay,they
realisedthebenefitandtheywerebenefitingfromitbut(.)Maybethewholefear
andstigmaandeverything(.)lookittheseturbinesareupthere.Lookwhenthey
wherebeingputupinitiallytherewasnearlyanaudiencewatchingthefirstfew
goingup.And the last12seemedto justspringup,youknowyou justbecome
oblivioustoitlike.Beforeyouwouldalwaysgetupandbelookingatthematthe
turnoftheday.Butsureyougetupnowandyoudon’tevenseethem.Youknow
and look it thepeople that turned fromobjectors tohaving it on their land (.)
maybetheyjustsawthemforwhattheywhereratherthenallthispublicityand
badpublicity.
I: Do you think (.) did they challenge it in courts or did they go to any of the
hearingsoranythinglikethat?
T:Idon’tthinktheydid.Itwouldbe(.)theyobjectedandIwouldthink(.)Ithink
theygotplanningpermissionthenandIwouldn’tthinkthat itwentbacktoAn
BordPleanalaoranything.I'mnot100%sureoranything.I’mnotsure.Butem:
itdefiantlydidn’tgoall thewayup.But they(.) I supposemaybe itwasn’t the
objectors but initially 18 went up. I think they would have been looking for
planningfor20.Therewastwoofthem(.)thenearesttwo,tosomeofthehouses
wheretakenoutofitandpermissiongivenforthe18.
I: So the interaction with the community did actually amend there plans
somewhat.
T:Wellwhetheritwastheinteractionorwhetheritwastheplanningsaidthere
house.Idon’tknow.Idon’tknow.Theywheredefiantlythetwothatwheregoing
tobenearanyofthose.
I:Soasacommunitymemberyouknewaboutthelegalstipulationsabouthaving
toparticipatewiththecommunity..
T:Yeah.
201
I:butdoyouthinkeveryoneelsehadthatkindof..
T:Iwouldn’tthinksono.
I:No?
T:Well I only knew about it because themines approached us to set up this
committee like.Other then that I don’t know if there’s a development starting
wherever(.)downinClonmeentomorrow.Dotheyactually(.)istheinformation
evenenoughtosayyouengagedwiththecommunityordotheyhavetosetupa
committee?Idon’tknow.
(Relativeentersthekitchen)Hellowhereinvadingyourspace.Howareyou!?()
I:Yousaidthatinitialgroupwas30people,didthey(.)isitstillthesamenumber
decidingathing..
T:Well(.)weprobablyhad(.)howmanyhadwelastnight?Wemighthavehad
20.Wehadameeting(.)yousee(.)arecommunityforumwassetuptodealwith
anissuewiththisandthendoubledupasissueswiththemines.Sootherthen(.)
we would meet a couple times a year and we would met with the mines as
regards with the closure. Other then the dishing out of the money (.) there’s
probablynotingforthecommitteetodo.Inrelationtotheturbines.
I:Ahok.
T:Soitsortofservestwopurposesforus.Nowlookitifthecommunitygetsup
andgetsatit(.)andtheycanusethatcommitteeforotherstuffaswell.Likeyou
know.ButitdidservertwopurposesforusasIsaid.Ifitsonlytodealwiththe
dishingoutofthemoney.Itsonlyacoupleofmeetingsyouknow.Sendoutthe
applicationforms,giveoutthemoneyandputupwiththefightsafterthatlike(.)
Ha.
202
I:ThatwillgoonfortheforeseeablefutureIsuppose?
T: Its either15yearsor20yearsor the lifeof the turbines. If they took them
downorwhatever,themoneywouldceaselike.Ithinkthere’s20years.Even20
years, the turbinesaren’tgoing togoawayhere.Theywillprobably take them
downanda4megawattwheretheyhada2megawatt.Likeyouknow.
I:Yeahthat’strueactually.Theykeepmakingthebetter.Yousaidthepeoplethat
disagreedatthestartthey(.)whatexactlywastheremainissuewithit?
T: I don’t know. I don’t know.Em:Sureyouhadeverything from.Theywhere
afraidthefactthatitwasgoingoverthemine,thatthegroundwouldn’tsupport
themand rubbish inmymind. Look theyhave thewhole flicker and thenoise
thingbut(.) itwasgoingtoruintheirviewsandthereparishandthisthatand
theother.Idon’tknow.Idon’tknow.
I:Becauseaesthetically,likeyouknow(.)youseetheminthedistanceandyou
don’tseemto..
T:Well look theydon’t botherme. Its like anything, if youhave an issuewith
themandyourlookingatthemeverydayitwillgiveyouapaininyourheadif
youthinkitsgoingtogiveyouapainintheheadlike.D’yaknow,it’sthesameas
if aphonemastgoesupover there.Youknow, “oh Ihaveanawfulpain inmy
headeverytimethatturnson”.Anditsnotevenpoweredlike.Youknow.Solook
alotofitcanbeintheheadlikeyouknow.
I:Yeah.
T:NowIknowlooktheremayhavebeenagendaswithpeople.Iknowonefella
up there. He was very staunch against it and he was looking for planning
permissionforahouseatthetime.Hehaditviewedbythecountycounciland
next thing the council gave himpermission for a turbinewhatever half amile
203
fromhishouse.Looktherewasagendasallover.You’llalwayshavethatlike.You
know.
I:YeahIknow.
T:Sowhatwheretheirworries,Idon’tknow.
I:Sotheyweren’treallythatmajorIsuppose?
T:Welllookit,beautyisintheeyeofthebeholder,likeyouknow(.)haha.
I:Anotherinterestingpartofthisprojectwasthatitwentupsoquicklywithout
thatmuch..
T:Youknowitwasn’tmassivelike.
I: Across all of Europe you have groups of people protesting heavily, even in
countrieslikeDenmarkwhohavebeendoingitforalongtimeandtheystillhave
issues.
T:Wouldtheyasmuch?
I:Theystillhaveasmuchobjectionsyeah,Iknowanindividualthatworksinthe
parliamentsystemandtheygetcomplaintsallthetime.
T:Likethiswentupandthefactthatallotofitwason(.)Ithinktheinitialones
wason(.)noprivatelands.ItwaseithermineslandorCoillteland,forestry.So
non of themwent up on private land. And the mines then owned this big (.)
couple of thousand acres. So therewas nobody (.) and even the people living
nearest itwhereonthesunnysideof itso theywherenevergoingtohavethe
flickereffect.Andtheytookawaythetwothatwherenearestthem.
204
Solikethemineshadthisbiglockoflandandyouhadabigstretchofbogthere
toTempletuohy.So that’swhytherewasnomajor(.)other thenthisgroupup
here like. It wasn’t the case that everyone all around them got together and
objectedtothemlikeyouknow.Itwasbecauseitwaswhereitwassituated.And
it’sthesameIthinkforanything.
BordNaMónanowarelookingtoputupaheapofthem.Butthereputtingthem
up in big areas where its sparsely populated. Like are they going to have
objectors.Youknowthiswholethingupthemidlandsthen.Theywheregoingto
export the power to the UK, there was what a one hundred or something
turbines.
I:YeahIthinkitwassledgedtobethebiggestinEurope.
T:Suretheywhereupinarms“wherenotgona”,“alltheseturbines”.ButsureI
sawtheplanningforitlikeandtheywhereinlittlepockets.Twasinfivecounties
fromKildare,Offaly,Laois,maybesomeofTipperary,WestMeath.Sotheywhere
goingtobepocketsof10and12therewasn’tgoingtobeonehundredturbines
uplike,youknow.Andyetpeoplegotthisbigthingof“oh::onehundredturbines
whatarewegoingtodo”.Look(.)Idon’tknowpeopleareentitledtoobjectlike.
ButarethelegitIdon’tknow.
I: I'mhoping to visit other people in the area and itsmostly about how there
experiencestuff likewhattheydid.Andit’s tryingtotie inall these issuesthat
areacrosstheboard.
T:Yeahwelltherewasreallyadifferencewiththefirstonesbeingputup.They
where being put up on a Sundaymorning or something, whatever way those
fellas work seven days a week but. There was an audience like. And the last
twelvejustseemedto,justlikeamushroom.LiketheyputthemupinIsuppose
threeorfourdayswhenthey’reatitlike.Itjustohthere’sanotheroneofthem.
205
I:Sodoyouthinkthecommunityjustslowlybecamecompletely….
T:Ah:::they’reusetoit.
I:Justnormal,factoflife?
T: That’s it like. Then again youwill hear (.) the planningwas probably done
rightnow.There’snonofthemverynearhouses.You’llseeplaceswheretheresa
bigcableupbehindyeah,andthereaturbinespinningupthere.Youknowit’sat
yourdoorsteplike.Idon’tknowiftheywillmovetheminimumdistanceIthink
fromthe500mto700m.
I:Yeahtheguidelinesareunderassessment.
T:Yeah,solookit.Idsayiftheywenttomovingitoutto1000mitwouldsolvean
awful lotofproblems.Likeyouknow(.)even theone (.) Idon’tknowdidyou
driveintotheentranceofthemines?(.)intothemones?
I:Wedidyeah.
T:Yeahdoyouknowwhereyouturnintheroadandthere’sgatesandthereisa
turbine inon the left?Yougo ina little furtherandyourmeetinga turbineon
yourrightandtheofficeblockishere(gesturestoitslocation).Sothecarparkis
basicallythereinthemines.Allthetimesthatturbinethereisalwayshavebeen
onorwhateverandyouwouldwalk inacrossandscarcelyhear it.Thatone if
youwhere in the offices at 9 o clock in themorning, the flicker comes savage
now.Butinthespaceofanhourmeeting.IrememberthefirsttimeIsaidcorked
it.IwasinameetingIwasfacingthesunthereandIwaswonderingwhatwas
thatlike.Flicking(.)Flicking(.)Flicking(.)andnextthingIsaidokthat’s(.)and
wegotonwithitandthenIsaidtomyself“wheredidthatgo?”.Itwasgonelike.
Doyouknowitmovedaround.Butthatonecreatesflicker,theonethat’sjustout
theroad(.)anditsprobably(.)whatisitout?Itsprobably400,500or600mout.
Thatonecreatesnoflicker.YouknowandagainIwouldthinkthatit’sdownto
206
thelowlyingland.Whereaviewofthemallonabrowofahillgoingacrossyeah,
therealwaysgoingtobeaboveyou.Ithinkifplanningisdoneright,andtheyare
putinareaswheretheyaren’timposedonhouses
I:Thattheywouldn’t..
T:Idon’tseeanissuewithitlikeyouknow.Maybeotherpeoplewillbut.
I:Soyoursayingiftheplanningbecamemorerobustthatmaybetheywouldn’t
havetoengageinasmuchparticipation?
T:No,nowell.Theywouldn’t..
I:Theystillwillbut..
T: They stillwill but eh: they needn’t impinge upon people asmuch like. You
knowthere’sjesushundredsofthousandsofacresofwildernesslikeyouknow.
Butthenagaineveryonehasdifferentopinions.Iwastalkingtoafriendofmine
who lives on the other side of the parish. And he would be a farmer and
everything else but he says there’s enough of them around. You know, many
morewoulddestroythelandscape.Yeahknowitsjustanotheropinion.
I: Iwasjustthinkingsoyoupersonally(.)whatdidyougetfromparticipating?
Areyouhappyor?
T: Em personally, sure im involved in a lot of different organisations and
everything from schools to the church to the GAA to the, you know they all
benefitfromit.Anditsfundraisingthatacluborparishdoesn’thavetodo.The
onlygainisthefinancialgainforaparishlike.Ifwedidn’tgetthecontribution,
youcan talkaboutgreenenergybut like,youknow,whocareswhere theyare
producinggreenenergy.Theydon’thavetobeinyourbackyard.Unlessthereis
afinancialgainforacommunitythereisnobenefitforthembeingthere.
207
I:Soeveniftheycompletelyengagedwiththecommunitybutdidn’thavesome
financialyouwouldn’tgetanythingoutofit?
T:Givingyougreenenergy(.)surelikewhocareslike.Youknowlikeitdepends
onwhatpeoples(.)youknowiftheyarethereandtheyareimpingingonyou(.)
ifthereisagainforyouparishfineanddandybutifthere’snot.Youknowpeople
willobjectandjustwontwantit.
I:Yeahthisisoneofthebiggestissuesinthewholediscussion.
T:Yeah.
I:Engagement.
T:Againit’sthegainthenforthecommunity,whichisthethinglike.Ifthereisno
gainwhywouldyoubotherwithitlike,ifitiseffectingyou.Wellifthere’sagain
everyonewins.
Temporaryrecordingissues–startsbackafewminuteslater.Withadiscussion
aboutthethirdwindfarminthearea.
T: So when Bord NaMóna started then they had an information evening, are
committeewent as a group.Wewent andwe saw the posters and everything
else. We approached them as a group saying your putting up turbines in are
parishweasagroupwanttoengagewithyou.Andwegotnocontactwiththem,
zero.
I:Really?
T: Em: the development didn’t go as quick as itwas thought itwas so itwas
dragged out and dragged out. And we actually put in a submission in there
planning tomake themcontribute towhatever fundwhatever amountwe got.
But it actuallymissed the date. Or the dateswheremissed so are submission
208
didn’tgoin.Butyetprobablysixmonthslatereh:therewasa(.)thisfellaImight
putyouintouchwithhimJohnHogan.HemetwithaBordNaMónafella.Iwas
on Tipp FM actually and your man accused the Bord Na Móna fella of not
engagingwithus.“Your justcominginhereanddoingwhatyouwant”.Shortly
afterthatthentheycamebacktousandtheycameupwiththiscontribution.So
thewaytheysetitupisdifferentoursis,ouroneis(.)wegiveoutthemoneybut
its administered by the county council. So the county council has to rubber
stampeverythinginregardstoplanning.
I:Thedecisions?
T:Yeahwell theycantchangearedecisionsbutyet theyhavetorubberstamp
them. Bord NaMóna is different Bord NaMóna are administering there own.
Nowtheywouldhavethesamecriteria,youhavetohaveplanningyoucantjust
putupstuffbutthetwofundsarebeingrundifferentlybutthesetuptheinitial
engagementrundifferentlyaswell.Theycameandtheyputthepostersandall
and then gone like. And until a bit of pressure went on them then there was
nothing.Now lookmaybe theywheregoing todo it anyway, Idon’tknow.But
youknowtherewasn’tahugeamount(.)hahaha(.)comingfromthem.
I:Yeah.
T:Yeahsoiftheyhadgottenawaywithit,maybetheywouldn’thavecontributed
likeyouknow.
I:Becauseitisreallyclose,itblendsintophaseone,Ithink.
T:Itdoesyeah.
I:Ithoughtthatwasphaseone(.)haha.
T:Noyouwouldn’tthinkthattheywheredifferent.
209
I:ThenIthoughttherewastoomanywindturbinesthere.
T:Yeahliketherearethreedifferentwindturbinefieldsassuch.
I:Soundslikeyoudidwelloutofitanyway?
T: Wedidyeah,moneywise.There’sjobsaswellIsuppose.Therecouldbe(.)
there’sprobablyone,twofellasworkingthere,fourfellas,fivefellasworkingup
thereontheactualwindturbinesthemselves.That’sitthen.
I:Doyouthinkifyoudidn’thaveanysortofinvolvementinitthat,letssayyou
wherelivingorworkedinadifferentjobthendoyouthinkyouwouldhavebeen
annoyedseeingthemspringingup?
T:Em: Iwouldhaveseen them(.)as theywentup Iwouldhaveseen themas
possibilityofgettingajoboutofthem.Maybenotlike,buteitherway,eitherway
they never bothered me like. You know I think they’re elegant looking as
opposedtointrusive.Tisdowntoeveryone’sopinionisn’tit.
I:Yeahexactly.
T: Illringthatfellaandseehemightactuallyhavea littlemoreinformationon
theplanningendofit.
I:Yeahthatwouldbeagreathelp,oranyoneelsethatwouldbe(.)youknowI
only need a three or fourmore people and you know I could go knocking on
doors but if you knew anyone because your in the council. Even names and
contactdetailswouldbegreat.Italsohelpstohavelocalstotalktothembefore.
T:Yeahyeah,yeah.
I:BecauseIamjustsomerandompersontothem.
210
T:Yeahthat’sityeah.
I: Iwasjustthinkingthatthereknockingonyourdoorthinkingisthistheright
door.
T:Hahahahaha.
I: And the directions where beside a house but not that house one with two
stories.
T:Yeah,yeah
I: Iwashoping to do something in this area. Iwas originally interested in the
bogs and the wind turbines. You know Bord Na Móna is not very
environmentallyfriendly.
T:Yeah.
I: Burning all the peat, industrial level turf burning you know. And also
destroyingcertainenvironments. Its interestingwhenyouhaveacompanylike
this thatgoes from that to renewableenergy I assume that’s going tobe there
endplan.
T:Wellitislike,thewholerenewable;theyhavethousandsofacresofthereown
landtoputthemin.ButasIseeituphere,uphereallthebogsarenearlycutout
but idsaywheretalkinginagoodyeartheytake(.) I thinktheylowerthebog
between a foot and 18 inches a year. So and I remember about 15 when we
where walking across those bogs and they where putrid wet. Now themines
havethewholeareadrainedattheminuetandyou’dwalkacrossthatbognowin
thewinternowinapairofboots.Whereaswhentheminesstoppumpingnow,I
recontheregoingtobeanabsoluteseaofwater.Theregoingtobefloodedlike.
Youknowso theregoing tohave (.)yousee therechanging the landscapeand
thensuddenlythereintogreenenergylike.Hahaha.
211
I:YeahIwaslookingatthisarea,andalsothemidlandsofIreland.
T:Yeah,yeah.
I: Basically like part battle ground part (.) basically with out all these
developmentswewouldneverreacharetargetsandthenwouldendupgetting
fined.
T:Thatthenthewholeotherargument,likeit’sasubsidisedindustryyouknow
youtakeawaythesubsidiesdoesitstandalonethenonitsownlike(.)somesay
itdon’t.Sonowyourputtingthemupwouldyoubeaswelloffpayingthefines
insteadofspendingmillionstogetthemupbuttherestillnotviabletostandup
onthereownlikeyouknow.SoIsupposetheflipsideofthatisyoumayaswell
upthemupratherthenpayingfines.Don’tknow.
I:Butyeah(.)ifyoucouldputmeincontactwithanyonethatwouldbegreat.
T:Yeahilltrythemtwofellasandsureifyougetthemtwoofthem.
I:JohnHoganand..
T:YeahJohnandRichyDaly.Andsureyouraroundforthenextcoupleofdays?
Weekend?
I:Illbeherefortheweek.Sowheneveritsuits.-Interviewends:
212
10.4.2In-DepthInterviewTranscriptions~LisheenWindFarmParticipants
Interviewee: RichardDaly-Farmer,landowner(Moyne)inwhich5windturbinesarelocated.FormerleaderofcomplaintsagainstLisheenPhase1.MemberoftheParishForum.
Location: 9thNovember2015–Moyne,Co.Tipperary,RepublicofIreland.
Qualityoftechnology: Soundqualitygood,enabledperfecttranscription
Legend I:Interviewer
R:RichardDaly
I:AsIsaidearlieronIdoingitonthewindturbinesbasicallyhereandit’sintwo
phases here. You probably had different experiences here with the different
phasesbutIdjustliketofirstlyaskyouasalocalwhoisinvolvedinthis,howdid
it(.)whendidyoufirsthearaboutit?
R:Whenwe firstheardabout it, right, asyouquite rightly said therewas two
phases.ThefirstphasewastheLisheenMinesthemselvesah,wantedtoputup
the turbines themselves. My recollection was that they wanted to put up 22,
initially(.)butahplanningcriteriaandwhateverahendedputtingup18.Soand
theywhereupIsupposefourorfiveyearsandtheyhadthecapacityonthegrid,
sotheysaidsurelook-it.Wemayaswell increaseit,sotheyputonanother12
and then I think there is a couple more, Bord Na Móna put up another 14
turbines. Theywould be quite larger, theywould be 3 kilowatts is it. Yeah so
that’sprettymuchit.
I:Soyou,didyouhearaboutitin2008orwasit?
R:Yeahaboutthatyeah,2008yeah.
213
I:Anddidyouemdidtheygiveyou,didyoureceiveitthoughwordofmouthor
didyougetitinnoteintheletterbox?Howdidyoufindoutaboutit?
R:Ehhowdidwereallyfindoutabout it?Iknewitwasinthereplans,ehthat
theyhadextracapacity.Thatwasalways theway.Whentheyputuptheeh(.)
initialonestherewasalways,theycamedowntolocalinthe(.)Ithinkbypartof
thereplanningtheyhadtocontactlocalsintheimmediate(.)closetothevicinity
ofit.Soitwassittingdownlikethisinakitchenandweaskedthemthequestion
like ifyougetplanningpermission for the18or22at the timewill therebea
capacitytoputupmore?Andtheyquiterightlysaidyeah,becausetheminehas
degraded and itmakesmore sense like yeah. Itwas always in the back ofmy
headthattheywantedtoputthemup.Itsnotthatsomeonecame,“ohherewe
wanttoputthemuptoday”youknow.Itwasinthebackofmymindthatthey
wheregoingtoextenditlike.
I:Ok(.)butthenwhenitcametoitdidyougotoanyofthesemeetings,whenthe
engagementofthecontractors/developmentdidtheyrunanylocalinformation
events.
R:Wellnotthecontractors,Isupposeithastotakedifferentsteps.Alltheyhave
to do, you know look for planning permission. Get thewhole project together
rightandthenitgoesplanning(.)butbefore itactuallywenttoplanning(.)eh
duringpartsoftheplanningtherewasIthinkoneifnottwopublicmeetings.So
itwasat that thenwhenyouheardeveryoneelse’sviews.And Iknow initially
becausetherehandbeennoturbines,initiallytherewasallotofquestionswhere
asked because its something new. So there was a bit of ah:: I wouldn’t say
negativity but therewas certainly an awful lot of ah:: (.) questions asked that
neededtobeaskedandwhichwhereanswered.Itsnotuntilthereactuallyup(.)
youknowweallthoughtthiswasgoingtobeshockingandnoiseandtheflicker
(.)whateverbutnotheyslippedinhandyenoughlike.Itwaspartprobablythe
unknownreally.Youknowandthat’swhytherewassomuch..
214
I: Sobefore theyhad thesemeetings youwould say thatmostpeople kindof
either(.)theywouldn’teitherbeprooragainstbuttheywouldbeabitworried?
R:Certainlyworriedyeah.Defiantlyyeah.Becauselookit,anyinformationisso
accessibleandit’ssoeasytogethereandreadaboutthebadnewsstoryofwind
turbinesbreakingorgoingon fireorwhatever likeyouknowwhat Imean.So
basically(.)it justneedstoknow.Theywherenew(.)newtotheareathereits
likeanywherewhentheycomeinnew.Becauseinfairnesstheyarequitetalland
youknowyou’llseethem..
I:Yeahyeah.
R:Afterlivinginherenow(.)ahsurewehavebeenlivingheresince2000right
sosay15years.Sowecansee(.)wewereherebeforetheturbinesandwewere
here for the construction of turbines and where here obviously when the
turbines are going. And look it (.) I’ve three children anddo you knowwhat I
mean, its not that I’m going to do anything thatwould be (.) that they’ll have
healthreasonsfromtheseturbinesorwhatever.Solook,surethey’reasgoodas
anyotherkitaroundtheplace.There’snoilleffectsbasicallyinregardstohealth
andthatbecausewewouldbe(.) theturbine in themines I think isabout600
meters fromthehouse.And I think themidposton theonehere isabout580
againorsomething like that.Like580or600. I think itsslightlycloser.Now it
couldbeopenfordiscussionaboutthatoneallright.Likeifyou’resittinghereas
welllike,bar…
I: I didn’t even notice it, hahaha. (he points out the 5 turbines outside the
windowofthekitchen)
R:No,no,illtellyeahyouhavetopinpointitso.They’rethereandthey’rethere
workingandtodayofalldaysifyouwanttohearit,it’saperfectdaytohearit.I
knowyouhaveothernoisesinthebackground.We’llsay(.)withwindandtrees
andwhatever.Butevenona calmdaynowyou’dhear thebirdswhistlingand
otherbits(.)naturewouldactuallycarryonasnormal,likeyouknow.
215
I: I tried to listen tooneof themactually, theother field furtherover there to
hearitbutitwascompletelysilent.
R: In factnowyou’dhave togoanawful lot closer (.)with insay150m-80m
you’dhearawhooshnoise,butlookitthatit.
I:Yeah,Iwaswonderingthese(5turbines)arebuiltonyourlandthough,these
arethelandsyoufarmandworkon?
R:Yes.Yeah,yeah.
I:Oksodoyouthinkthatthey(.)thedevelopment,thatyouhadmoreofarolein
thekindof(.)whatwasyouactualroleifyouthinkaboutit…
R:Oksofromgreenfieldrightso,ifyoucouldtakeitthatyou’rethecontractor
andI’mthefarmer.Sooutofrespectyoucan’tjustcomeinandroaroverandtell
mewhat to do and all this. So there’s proper consultation and in fairness like
even the practical things when they’re saying where the road is going or
whatever.I’dhavewatertroughsandwaterfittingsandelectriccurrentsgoingto
stockcattle.Theyworkedwithme.Doyouknowif therewasanythingbroken,
they would fix it and I’d tell them where it was or whatever. But it was all
excellentwhere(.)becauseofthe5that’swereonthisfarmwewereabletojig
aroundthelayoutofthefields.Becauseyeahknowtheroadwaywascomingin
andtherewasactuallyacrossroaddownthereandtherewasanothercoupleof
bitsofroadwaybuiltonthisfarmsowewhereabletoworktogetheronit.
I:Soyouhadaroleinthedecisionmaking…
R: Yeah, Yeah.Definitely yeah. Yeah on the ground like. You know there was
alwaysgoingtobearoadcominginitsintheplanningpermissionbut.Justtojig
it around. Iknow theyhadan impact statementonabadger sett and the road
hadtobemovedoutfromwherethebadgerswere.Lookitwiththebestwillin
216
theworldIwouldhavepreferrediftheroadwastuckedinniceandneatbeside
theditchbutlookitthere’sbadgersthereweworkedarounditandthat’sitlike
yeahknow.Soyeahlittlethinglikethattheywereverygoodlike.
I: Between like 2009 and the first phase and the secondphasewould you say
they did the same (.) well what was the participation level if there was a
difference between the two?Do you thinkmore peoplewhere engaged or the
communitywasengaged?
R:Youseeinthefirstphaserightpeople(.)itwastheunknownreally.Thiswas
somethingnewcominginright.Sosecondphasethenpeoplerealisedthatthey
whererunningforfiveyearsorwhateverfourorfiveyearsmaybeitwasmoreI
forget.Sotherewasmoreacceptancethenforthesecondphase.Becausepeople
(.) there was actually as far as I can remember I don’t think there was any
objectionat all for the secondphase.Therewasnothing thatwent toAnBord
Pleanála, no. I suppose the locals saw that at least there’s a couple of local
farmers (.) getting some benefit out of it,whichwould be going back into the
local(.)anywaybecausewherelivinginthelocalandallthisso.Yeahtherewas
no,very little ifanyobjectionatall tothesecondphasevs. the firstone.There
wasmoreconcernsbecauseoftheuncertaintyoftheunknown.Thatwasitlike
yeah.
I:You’dsaythattheyprobablydidtheparticipationinvolvingthecommunityto
thesameamountor?Youhadmoreofaroleobviouslybecauseofitbeingyour
land.
R:ButapartfromthatIwouldn’tlikeyoutoehhh:()(.)upsetanyoneeither!You
knowwhat Imean.We’re living in a community and as bestwill in theworld
we’d like to getonwitheverybodyaswell aswe could,wedon’t like toupset
people.Butinfairnesswehaveanotherfarmacrosstheroadbut(.)calleddairy
blockandwewhereapproachedtoputaturbineonthatfarmbutwithareview
wesaidlookitwethoughitmightimpacttomuchonareneighbours.Becauseits
morepopulatedover(.)onthefarmacrosstheroad.Wedeclinedonthatofferto
217
putaturbineoverthere.Soweputupfiveturbineshereandbothneighbouring
farmersputuponeaswell.
I:Ok.
R: It didn’t interfere (.) its kind of a isolated block of land down here like it
wouldn’tbepopulatedbyanymeans.
I:Justyourselves.
R:Justourselveslikeyeahandneighbouringfarmers.Lookitsuitedtoputthem
upherewithoutanyhassleorwhateverlikevs.gettinggreedyaboutitifyoulike
puttinguponeonthehomefarm,itwouldprobablyberunningabittoocloseto
households.Sothatwasthedecisionwetook,thatwasit.
I:Youmentionedthebadgersetthingthere.Didyouknowaboutthefullimpact
assessment?Theenvironmentalimpactassessments?
R: See funny enough there was guys it was like dark () when they would be
coming in theymight come across something of reference orwhatever. To be
honest with you its not my area of expertise so who was I to question what
coursetheywouldbedigging.Butthatwiththebadges,Iknewtherewasalways
badgersthere.Butfunnyenoughtherehadn’tbeenbadgerthereatthatsettfora
good few years. But unfortunately id say I was unlucky enough, a rabbit or
somethinghadbeenliving in it thereora foxcleaneditso it lookedtotheguy
that (.) and the datewhen hewas doing he’s study he though that therewas
defiantlyabadgerinit.Andtherehasn’tbeenabadgertheresince.Therewould
beactually threeother identified settson this farm there.And thedepartment
monitorsthoseallthetimebuttheynevermonitoredthatonebecauseitwasa
deadset likeyouknow.But likethefact thatthewindcrowd,orwhateveryou
wanttocallthemsawthatitwasasettandthattheroadwascomingquiteclose
toitthat’swhytheydecidedtopulltheroad.NowthatwhenIsayitwouldn’tbe
218
20mfromit,butstillit’saslightlyoutthenidlikebutlookwherefarmingsowe
workedaroundit.Itsfineyeah.
Em: there’s allot of other (.) I remembera coupleof times theydidbats.They
cameinIthinkitwas11o’clockatnightandtheysattheretillabout4,half4in
themorningorsomethinglikethat.
I:Listeningforbats?
R: Yeahitwasactuallyquitecoolnow.Butahjustmeetingthemandthat.But
thentheyalsoregularlydobirdwatching.WhenIsayregularlyitmightbetwice
ayearinallotofthesecomedowntothefarm.
I:Sotheysurveyit?
R:Theywould and theywouldbe (.) theyhave to studywhat birds are flying
aroundinthearea,buttheyarealsoseeingiftheyfoundanydeadones.Toseeif
abirdhitsaturbineanddiesorwhatever.AsfarasIknowasalaypersonlike
myself.That’sallthatIseegoingon.Thatupacoupleofyearsphasetwolikeyou
know.
I:Sowheretheygoingtocontinuetheremonitoring?
R: Idon’tactuallydon’tknow.As farasIknowtheyare. Ididn’thearanything
untoward.Ithinktheyare.Idon’tmind.
I:Itdoesn’tbotheryou?
R:Itdoesn’t.Oftensomedaysyouwouldbeherdingcattleorwhateverandyou’d
just pull up and have a chat “how are you getting on”. You would nearly
recognisefromthelasttime.Illbehonestwithyou,wewherehuntingcattlethe
otherdayandinfairnessoneofthegirlsactuallycameoutandgaveusahand.
The calves weren’t going are way. In fairness though I have to say they do
219
respectthelandownerasmuchaswerespectthosepeopledoingtherejob.You
knowwhatImean.Andinfairnesstothemonservicescominginthewaythey
might be in once or twice the month at the most, you know what I mean
maintenanceisquiteminimalnow.Isupposeallotcanbedonefrominsideinthe
mainofficeintheminesorthesubstationorwhateverlikeyeah.
I: You know (.) I interviewed Tim Bergin and he was telling me about the
communitygroupthatwassetup.
R:Yes.
I:Following thedecision towell (.) thestipendof themoneyyouget fromthe
windturbines.Doyouhaveanyinvolvementinthat?
R:YeahI’mactuallyonthatcommittee,itscalledthe‘ParishForm’andwhenthe
moneycomesinitsactuallyfantasticbecauseI’minvolvedwithanathleticclub
hereinMoyneaswell.AndeventhelocalhallinMoyneandthenalsothemoney
would have helped contribute to the building of the GAA pitch and the
development of that. The hall in Templetuohy and the church. Look it there’s
50,000 coming in guarantied from these turbines and then there’s another
20,000comingintotheparishfromBordnaMónaturbinesaswell.Soit’squitea
nicechuckofmoneylike.Butinfairnessthemoneythat’scominginisbeingwell
spent.It’snotliketherecominginandpeoplearegoingonthepissorwhatever
youknowwhatImean.
I:Ofcourse.
R:They’rebeingused forgood fantastic jobs like.Andespecially (.) if youhad
time(.)itsgettingabitdarknowbuteventheathleticsclubinMoyne..
I:I’veseenit,itsreallygood.IvseenworstonesinDublin,itstentimesbetter..
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R:Ahyouwould,yeahitisyeah.Itsagoodcommunityspiritkindofeffort,that
gottothatlevel.Itwouldprobablyhavebeendoneregardlessofthewindfarmit
defiantlywouldhavebeendonebutcertainlyhavingmoneytakethestingoutof
it. You know, it cost €235,000 right.We had €60,000 of are ownmoney, the
athletic club. And we borrowed another 170,000 odd. But having that money
cominginatleastyoucanbudget.Wehavealottogoingaswell,itscoveredthe
loanbuttheplanistogetthisloadtobepaidoffquickly.Sobyhavingthisextra
few quid coming in from thewind farm (.) Look not one clubwill get the full
amount.Surewewheregetting10,000or15,000foracoupleofyearsandthey
wewould standback and let another club come in, youknowwhat Imean (.)
with therebitsandso forthandsoon. Itsspreadaroundand its its it’sagood
ideanow.Youknowwithgoodprojectsobviouslylike.
Beingonthatcommittee ifsomeonecameinandsaid“isthereanychanceofa
coupleofquid, Iwant toputsomenewwindows intomyhouse”, there’snota
hopeinhell(.)youknowwhatImeanitforcertaingoodprojectsandallotofthe
moniestoisforsayiftheyhavedonethejobthehavetohavethereceiptssosay
if something costs 20,000 at most they would get is 10,000. You know we
wouldn’t be seen to be funding the project 100%. So its an incentive for each
committeethentowork.DoyouknowwhatImean,butstill lookit itcertainly
takethestingoutofithavingthismoneycomeintotheparish.
I:Thisforum,diditexistbefore(.)inanyformbeforethatorwasitactuallythe
windturbinesandthecommitteesresponsetothem?
R: Yeah, it was (.) look it (..) there was always probably committees there I
supposeas regards tomanaging themoney itobviouslywas setupbecauseof
thewindturbines.ButwiththeLisheenMinesacrosstheroadtherewasacouple
ofprojectswheretheLisheenMineswouldhavecontributedheavilytoacouple
ofprojectsintheareaaswell.Sotherewasnearlyacoupleofguyssayathletics
stuff, GAA and another couple of committees that where all talking together
anyways. So itwas just amatter of putting a proper brand over (.) the parish
forum committee. Headswhere thinking before, you knowwhat couldwe do,
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something like that because. As far as I know the council in North Tipperary
wouldbeuniqueas(.)whentheturbinesstartedoffinitially,Ithinkjeezthisone
herecertainlycouldhavebeenoneofthefirstinNorthTipperary.Sothecouncil
were looking at us to see how we were reacting. And the pros and cons of
everythingelsegoingforward,sotheyactuallytookaleafoutofourbook.When
they saw howwell this, the communityworked quitewell together in getting
thesesumsofmoney.SoI thinktheyhaveput it, theyhavedefinitelybecauseI
knowI’vetalkedtothecountycouncillor;haveputitintoplacethatanyprojects
likethis,thattherehastobesomuchthat’sgivenbacktothecommunity.
I:Sothiswasoneofthelargest(.)orthetallestturbinestobebuiltin2009.So
youralsosayingthatthishasbeenaddedtootherdevelopments?
R:Yeahdefinitely,Iknowdefinitelythecouncilwaslookinginandseeingwhat
waywe(.) itwasmanagedbasically like.Andwhen theyactually (.) theyhave
givenusgreatcreditforthewayithasbeenmanagedlike.It’snicetoknowlike.
I: Itsoneof the reasonswhy Ivbeen lookingat this, Iwas lookingatdifferent
projects that theywheredevelopedbut thisone that itwasdevelopedso (.) it
justwentupsoquickIwasbetween1and2yearssincebeingbackandturbines
areeverywhereinanareathativbeenwellusedtowhenIwasachild…
R: Yeah especially years ago, I know for me it was allot of bog and peat
generated around the area you know so. Jeezwhen Iwas young the roadway
guys you know summer jobs going down to Bord Na Móna but that kind of
fizzled out. Then you had the Lisheen Mines and you seen the wind turbines
happening.There’snearly something comeseverygenerationorwherever like
youknow.Itshardtoknownowtheminesareontherelastlegswithnearlyall
the ore having been taken out so they’re (.) I know inside in there they are
kicking around the idea of using it as a kind of a (.) centre of pretty much
excellence. You know theymight bring on ah solar panels and all this kind of
think.Useitaskindanenergyhub,thisarealikedoyouknowwhatImean.Look
ittheyaretoyingaroundwithsomethinglikethat,anidealikethat.Ifithappens
222
ithappens.ButifithappensIwouldn’tbesurprisedbecauseasIsaidsomething
happensnearlyevery20yearslikeyouknowwhatImeanso.Yeahit’suniquein
thisarea,whetherisgeographicallylocatedwiseorwhere(.)likethere’spower
(.)everyturbineisturningandthepowerisgettingused.AndasfarasIknowif
they hadmore power theywould still use it. Like you know. So it’s obviously
beenplacedforgoodcauses.
I: Sodoyou think,whatdoyou thinkyourem (.)personally,doyou feel your
participationhadanimpact,inthedevelopment?
R:Ahpersonallyphhhaa::
I:Youknowinyourexperience?
R:My experience look it. I'm from the area so like I suppose I’m certain look
maybe it hasmaybe it hasn’t. Somemight say it has somemight say it hasn’t.
Look it, id like to feel it has. Certainlywith local communities you know, and
being part of the ‘Parish Forum’, allocatingmoney every year is certainly you
know it’s nice to know there’s good jobs done and the moneys been spent
correctlylike,youknowwhatImean.Solookitidliketosee,I’mnotlookingfor
anycreditbutI’dliketoseeifitwasdoneahappreciatedlikeyouknow.Solike
yeah,Ahhlookit.Yeah.I'mtoomodest.
I:Hahayeahexactlyit’sthetypicalproblemwithIrishpeople.
R:HahayeahnowifIwasacountycouncilloridbeblowingitupohh::yeah::,
yeah::yeah.
I:Hahahayeah.
R:Lookitit’sasmallcommunityandidliketoseeitgrowandyouknowitsthere
forwhoeverinsistscomebehinduslikeyouknow.Idhatetoseeevenwiththe
minesthat,ifitwashandledwronglyorsomethingifwesaworheardthatthere
223
wasabitof(.)damagegoingonthateffectedtheenvironmentthatwouldupset
me a lot more like do you know what I mean. Because it will effect the
generationstocomelikeyouknowso.That’swhyevenwindturbinesIknowyou
hearsomuchnegativeaboutthem,negativityaboutthembutlooktheydon’tkill
anyoneandit’stheyearwherein,wehavetobeproducinggreenenergiesyou
know.Youjustmovewiththetimesthenafterthat.
I:Justquicklyyoumentionedtheyreduceditfromwasit22to18
R:Ehyeah.
I:Orwasit20to18.Theyreducedtwoanyway.Theyreduceditdownto18from
theoriginalplansforthefirstphase.
R:Yes.
I:Sodoyourememberwasiffromahearingorwasitpeople…
R:Iknowthattheyhadfourdefinitelyinthereinitialplaneh:wellinitialdraft.
TheyhadfouronthewayintoLisheenMinesonthelefthandside.There’sone
therenow.ButIwouldsayfourwherenotgoingtoworkbecausetheywheretoo
close together. And so theywhere gigged around. And I know they looked for
anotheronedowntheroadthereoppositetheguy(.)PatCaseybuthehadgone
in looking forplanningpermission I thinka coupleofmonthsbefore thewind
turbineshadgoneinlookingforplanningsothatonewasknockedstraightaway.
Hehappenedtobejustinlookingforplanningpermissionforhishouse.Sothat
onewas eitherknockedor giggedaround. So I don’t know. It tooka coupleof
giggingaroundstobeforetheyactuallysettled.
I:Soitwasn’tnecessarilyanegativeresponseor..?
R:Ahcertainlyahh: jesusno.Ah id sayplanningyeah.Because Iknow its like
this,theyhadXamountoflandtoworkwithrightso(.)obviouslytheregoingto
224
maximise it to the best of there abilities. So I suppose throwing in 20 or 22
initially they thought itmightworkbut thengigging it around fromwhatever
obviousreasonstheyprobablythought18wouldworkanawfullotbetterthen
22. I know from down here going through it if your turbines are too close
togethertheywilltakethewindoffofeachotherso.There’snopointinputting
toomanyintheonepoint.
I:Itsprobablyjustmorestressforthem…
R:Yeah,soIknowitwasthesamedownhere.Itwasgoingtobefourbutthen
theygiggeditaroundandfittedfiveincomfortably. Andtheycouldactually(.)
another one would have gone over there but we thought it might have been
comingtooclosetothehouseandthenitwasalsoimpedingonBordNaMóna.
Look it, just try the fiveon this landon this farmand then.. that’s thewaywe
workedit.
I:Doyouknowactuallyanyotherpeoplethathadasimilarexperiencetoyouor
thatdidIknowyouwheretheonlyonethathad(.)there’sanotherfarmerwho
hasanotheroneinafieldoverhereisit?
R:Thereisyeah,JimO’Gradyandathere’sanotherguySeanHayden.
I:Ahoksothereisafewmore.
R:Thereisyeah,ontheothersidethenthere’sJohnButlerandTomButler.Yeah
sowhatever five farms and then there’s three in Coillte. Thatwas the second
phaseandthenthefirstphasewaswhatwasintheLisheenMines.
I:Ok,sodoyouthinktheywouldhavehadasimilarexperiencetoyou?
R:Yeahprettymuchyeah.IknowcertainlywithJimO’Grady.Wellnotsomuch
with JimO’Grady ifyoucould imagineah:he’s justat theedgeofhis landand
nextthingtheyliterallycamein(.)putinaturbineandoutagain.Whereashere
225
theywhere literally cutting right across the farm, like you knowwhat Imean.
Theyhadminimal impacton JimO’Grady.Ah JohnButler,yeahTomand John
Butler had a bit of impact I suppose alright yeah. But certainly yeah they
probablywouldhavehadsimilarexperience.Notasdetailedashereeitherlike
youknowbecausetheyjusthadoneeachlikeyouknow.
I:Soyougotthelionsshare?
R: Ah look it (.) pot luck, rightwe bought this farm in 1992 and grand we
developeditandwhatever.Andbackin2008anotherfarmcameupbesideitand
webought that and just in timingand the timingwasgood (.)webought it in
Februaryandbytheendofthatyearwewhereinnegationswithwindfarmsto
aboutputtingupturbines.Soitjustkindof.
I:Kindofsnowballedfromthere?
R: Yeahworked from there yeah.Well as there saying, if you could remember
backtotheCeltictigeryears.Youmighthaveheardthephraseorsaying“road
frontage”.Didyoueverhearthat“roadfrontage”.
I:Don’tbuyapropertyifitdoesn’thave“roadfrontage”haha.
R:Yeahexactly,exceptthisisthecompleteopposite.
I:Ok.
R: Becausetheturbinesdidn’twanttobebesidetheroadoranything.Soitwas
worthanawfullotmorebeingfurtherawayfromtheroad.Sothatwasit.
I:Doyouthinkthatyouwouldhavetheturbinesonyourfarmiftherewasthe
benefitsthatthecommunityhadandthebenefitsthatyou..
226
R: See, ah:: where probably (..) we knew that there was money going to the
communityanywayandthiswasjust(.)Iknowtherewas30,000withthe..
I:Original..
R:Originalandthentherewasanother20,000itsactuallyincreasednowbutah:.
So is certainlyhelped like youknowwhat Imean. Look it youhave to respect
other people as well and you cant just steam roll and I don’t thing any one
individualcouldaffordtoputupfiveturbinesandIdon’tthinktheLisheenMine
(.)youknowtheywherethekey.BecausetheyhadthepoweroutfromThurles
out to the LisheenMines so the infrastructure was in place. Like for any one
individual to go solo he probably would need an awful lot of money. And if
anythingwentwrongatallhe’dgobrokeyouknow. Itwouldbe impossible to
start off on your own. Itwouldbeunthinkable really, like youknow.As Iwas
sayingtheoutletfrom(.)forthepowerhadcapacity.
I:Yeahtheyhadasubstationoutthere.
R: Yeah theyhad thebig (.)what is it a 110KV coming fromThurles inplace
alreadylikeandthatwaskeylike.
I:Overalldoyouthinkbetween2009–2013thewholetimenow,doyouthink
they participated well, with the engagement with the local people in the
developments?
R:Idsaysoyeah,yeahdefinitelybecauseevenattheconstructionstage,lookit
theguyscamein(.)whatwheretherenamesem:(.)Crawfordswasit?I forget
theconstructioncrowd.Ehhbut..
I:Icouldprobablyfinditout.
227
R: I think it was Belford, Belford yeah they, yeah. They sub let’ed it out to
RossmoreEngineeringacompanyfromCo.Cork.ButIknowforafactthattheya
(.) felicitated buying diesel local and any problemswithmachines or anything
like that they availed of local mechanics and all. You know nice gestures so I
meanthere’sacertainbitofspinofflocallyfromityeah.Butyeahlookititslike
anybuildingwork,theyjustcomeinanditsdonetheyhaveatimeframetodoit
andthat’sitlikeyeah.Alotofthecontractors(.)there’saquarrylocallyandallot
ofmaterialswheresourcedlocallyaswelllikeyeah.
I:Sotheywentaboutittherightway?
R:Absolutelyyeah.Absolutelyyeah.
I:Sonoonefeltthat(.)youknowyouhearitinthepressandeverythingthatbig
firmsarecominginandtakingarelandandairandusingitforprofit.Itsnotthat
kindofmentalityorsentimentanyway?
R:NoIdon’tthinksono.No,lookititslikeacrosstheroadwiththeminesright,
Lisheenminesright.Theore isquiteexpensive.But itsalsoquiteexpensive to
bringitoutofthegroundandsentitoffinashiptoChinaorwhereveritsgoing.
LikeyouknowwhatImean.Youhavetoallowabitofleeway,youhavetoaccept
thatyeahfairplaythey’llmakeafewquidoutofit.Butthey’realsospendingan
awful lotofmoneyintheareatoget itout likeyouknow.Its likeprobablythe
windfarmsliketherewasahugeinvestmentintosoyeahtheywouldbeentitled
toafewquidoutofittoo.Butitalsocertaintyhelpsthatthelocalcommunityis
alsobenefitingoutofitwithsome,youknowwithsomelocalcommunitieslike
theathleticsandtheGAA,churchesandwhatever.Hallsandallthissortofcraic.
Soyeahpersonallyyeahidbelieveitwouldbeagoodnewsstoryyeah.That’smy
opinion.
Breakintheinterview:Personalinformationetc.
228
Comes back with discussion about a promotional video used to display the
Lisheenwindfarmafterdevelopment.
I:ItwastheIWsomething,itwastheIrishWindFarmsomethingAssociation.
R: Yeah, because they wanted to put something together because they where
doing another project. I think itwas kind of involvedwithmainstream. But it
didn’tmaterialise anyway. But yeah no they needed this kind of a good news
storyaboutwindfarmsbecausethere’ssomuchnegativityanduproarinplaces.
I:Whatdo you think aesthetically, likewhat you think they look likeon there
own.Doyoucareatall?
R:Lookit,doesitbothermedefinitelynot.Notherewasatreethere(pointsand
remarksat themorevisible turbinebetween trees)and it felldownand I said
Jesusthetreewasnicetherebutsurelookit.They’rethere,itspartofit.
ThewayIlookatitnowisprogress.AsIwassayingeverycoupleofyears,Idon’t
knowifyouwouldrememberitbutBordNaMónawashere.Andtherewas(.)
duringthesummertherewasrowsandrowsofcarsgoingdowntoworkinBord
NaMóna.Nextthingthatdiedoff.AndtheLisheenMinescame.Sotherekindof
goingandIknowwehavewindturbinesandwhatever.Nowtheretalking,that
they might be using this site as an energy hub (.)kind of excellence. Because
there talking about solar panels and that sort of thing. Look I wouldn’t be
surprised if it happens and but if it does that would be progress. I think its
comingfromtheEUthatthe(.)they’llnearlygiveyouplanningpermissionfaster
nowforasolarpowerthentheywouldforturbines.
I:Theguidelineshaven’tbeenchosenyet.
Interruptionastheintervieweegetsteaready.
R:NalookitIdon’tmindthem.I'mrightbesidethehighestoneonarelandsso
whatever.
229
Morepersonalinformation.
R: I know Martin Shanahan, he's a retired guy. Does tractors and cars and
whatever but ah. He has one (turbine) at the house thatwould never pay for
itself.Itsjustthetechnologyinitisn’tgoodenough.Hewassayingthatitwasa
purewasteoftimeputtingitup.
Morepersonalinformation.
R:Togobacktotheturbinestheengineeringisfantastic.Toactually(.)ifIwas
to tell you to dig it out. Took an average of 54 loads of concrete for each
foundation.Butwhenyouactuallyseetheholeandthenthegearboxattheend.
TheseoneshavegearboxesIthinkthepropellersandthegearboxiscarryinga
100 ton. On the top. Yeah it’smad. It’s like a bungalow on top of the poll. It’s
amazing.
Iwassayingearlierwiththeroadwaytheycameinthereandputinaifyousee
themonceortwiceamonththat’s it like. IfyouknowwhatImean. Ithasvery
little maintenance. If there is a problem it probably could be fixed in the
substation.Itprobablycouldbefixedonthephonelike.Technologyisfantastic.
Itsgreattoseetheengineeringhascomeleapsandbounds like forthegreater
good.
230
10.4.3.In-DepthInterviewTranscriptions~LisheenWindFarmParticipants
Interviewee: PaddyDoyle-ChairpersonofMoyneAthleticsClub,Memberofthe‘ParishForum’,Memberoflocalhistoricalsocietyandlocalteacher
Location: November10th2015-Templetuohy,Co.Tipperary,RepublicofIreland
Qualityoftechnology: Soundqualitygood,enabledperfecttranscription
Legend I=InterviewerP=PaddyDoyle
Transcription:
I:Couldyou tellmewhenyou firstheardabout theplans todevelop thewind
farmsatLisheen?
P:Ah:: I can’t remember thedateor theexact time. Itwas justwhenplanning
permissionwasappliedforthatwordwentaroundtheparish,thenatthatstage.
ThattherewasgoingtobetheturbineserectedatthesightoftheLisheenMine.
I:Soyouhearditthoughwordofmouthratherthenthroughanysortofofficial
means?
P:Yes(.) I I I I thingtheinitialwordwasthroughwordofmouthnotthougha
meetingoraletteroranything.
I:Howdidyoufeelwhenyoufirstheardaboutthem?
231
P:Em(.) Iwasn’t tooalarmedat the ideaof thembuteh:: I supposeanything
newlikethatyouhavetobecautiousyano.(.)Thefeelingatthetimewasthere’s
nopointaskingquestionslatersoehhh:::
Sopeople started to research the idea and look into if therewas anynegative
effectstoitbecauselikethemediahadsomenegativepress.ButIsupposeafew
peoplestartedtoresearchitandlookintoit.
I:Howwouldyoudescribeyourparticipationwiththeprojectitself?Ifyoucould
summarisehowyou..
P:Liketheturbinesthemselves?
I:Ah::noliketheparticipationwiththelocalcommunity,the‘ParishForum’
P:Wellatthetimewhentheturbineswherebeingmooted therewasanaction
groupwhereformedtokindofreallytoinquire(.)theyweren’tanantiturbine
group. But they where just set up to (.) em: (.) to find out more information
really.
I suppose Iwentdownouteh:of curiosity I supposeasmuchasanythingelse
just to seewhatwasgoingon there.And thenwhen theydidem: it turnedup
verylittlereallythattherewasverylittlenegativeaboutit
and then went planning did go ahead and we saw that this was what the
conditionseh:(.)
I’minvolvedintheathleticclubandthehistorygroupinMoynesoIIem:Iwent
downtothemeetingtoseeehwhatwouldwoulditmeanforthosegroupsI’m
involvedwith.
I:Ah:ok.
232
P:Iwentdownandehacommitteeof17whereemwhereelectedIsupposeas
suchonthenight.
And itwas set up and then an annual generalmeetingwas formedwas called
after thatand itkindof justgraduallygrew the formatofhow itoperateswas
kindoforganicreallyit(.)emergedasneedsbekindof.
I:Ohokandwasthataround2008beforeconstruction?
P:YesitwouldhavebeenIsuppose.
I:Sotellmemoreabouttheclubandwhatyourroleisinthat?
P:Well in theathletic club I’m involved inasanathleticmyself and I’malsoa
coachI’vebeenacoachingtheclubforabout20years.Andeh:I’vealwayshelda
placeinthelast20-25yearsivheldanofficershipaswellandchairmanatthe
momentandwehaveallotof facilitiesandallotof capitalprojectskindof that
where carriedout in the last10 –15years sowewhere alwayshoping to get
moneyaswell.
And the history group we’ve em: (.) we’ve written a parish history that was
writtenin2002anditwasem.
I:Ohreallyyeah,
P:Yeah itwasa threevolumeahbooksabout1500pages in it (.) ithad tobe
dividedintothreekindofA4sizedbooks.ItwasasizableprojecttheMinehelped
usalittle(.)helpeduswitheh:printingofitIsuppose,theygavesomefundsas
well.
Buttheneh:inthelastfewyearsthenwewhereem:(.)therewasnoindextothe
originalvolumethreevolumessointhelast4or5yearsweputwegotanindex
andtheforumthenhelpeduspayforthat.
233
I: So the community and your personal involvement has been helped by this
development.
P:Ohabsolutelyyesitsbeenagreatkindofwellitwasoriginally30,000ayear
totheparishandeh(.)withtheextraturbineshavebeenputupsoitsuptoeh:
50,000ayeartobedividedupbetweentheparish,(.)forbothendsoftheparish
forcapitalprojectsannually.
I: Do you remember anymeetings, informationmeetings or anything like that
priortoitbeingbuilt?
P:Eh:::Idoremembereh::(.)Idorememberoneyeah()asecondsetofturbines
have also been set up by Bord NaMónawhich are a secondwind farm but I
distantly that going aheadbut yeah () (.) I kind of vaguely remembermeeting
withthepeoplebeforetheLisheenturbineswheresetup.
I: I’m interested in findingout if theyhadaccess to theactualdecisionmaking
process?
P:YeahtheLisheenMinewouldhavebeen(.)sincethetimeIhadbeensetup
reallyhavebeenquiteopenwith..with…withthepeopleatallstagesof itsown
development, of what it was doing and what it intended to do. And that has
workedverywell.
But anothermine just in GalmoyMine less then 10miles away, set up before
LisheenMineand itwasoperatedona tell themas littleaspossiblebasisas it
seems to me. And everything seemed go work against them whereas, (.) the
LisheenMinekindofadapteda(MinorcoLisheen)thedifferentcompaniesthat
owneditsinceitwasfirstkindof(.)theorewasfirstfound.They’veoperatedon
amuchmoreopen basiswith the community and it seems to haveworked an
awfullotbetter.
I:Ah::ok::…
234
P:And sowhen it came to the turbines theyadopted the samekindof system
really.Theydidinformusandtherewasmeeting.
I:Soyoufeltliketheydidactuallyengage.
P:Oh::yeahtheydidyeah::theLisheenMinehavebeenverygoodtoengage(.)I
feelyeah.
I:Doyouthinkthatmaybeitwastheminethatplayedthatroleorbecauseofthe
previous connections with the society or was it their interaction with the
communitybecauseofthedevelopment?
P:(Intakeofbreath)(.)Eh:::itshardtosayreally(.)idsayitwasthewaythey
hadoperatedreally.
I:I’mtryingtoteaseoutwhythese,howexactlytheparticipationwentbecauseit
seemstohavebeenasuccessfromnearlyeveryoneI’vetalkedto.
P:Yeahlikeopennessdefiantlyseemstohaveworkedlikethereare(.)likeI’ve
saidthattheGalmoymines(.)becausethelocalsbackedup(.)becausethethings
wheredoneand then they tried to explainwhy theywheredone. (.)Thenyou
know:: there’s no () andno goingback then and its veryhard to allaypeoples
fears afterwards when its too late.When the LisheenMine kind of seemed to
have(.)kindofgivenusthechancetoaskquestionsandthingslikethatandthen
(.)theywhereahh(.)youknow::itwasitwasquiteopenreally.
I:Didyouknowatthetimethattherewasanenvironmentalimpactassessment
donebeforetheconstruction.
P: I can’t rememberknow(.)with theminesandeverythingwealsometwith
themaboutthetailingspondandtheEPAandtherewasfromwecouldalways
feel(.)thefeelingwealwaysgotwasthattheywheredoingeverythingthingthat
235
wasthatwasneededtobedoneandthattheywhere(.)Isupposeeh::theywere
askeenaskeepingthethingrightaswewere.
I: Do you remember any differences between the first phase and the second
phase, in regards tohowyouwhere informedabout itorhowtheparishdealt
withit.
P:Iremembertheparishdidn’t(.)em:::therenoactivereasonoranythinglike
that for the secondphase itwas just kindof (.) I suppose the feelingwas that
therewasn’tanytroublewiththefirstphaseso(.)therewasnorealissueswith
(.)frommypointofviewtherewasnorealissuewiththesecondphase.
I:Thesecondphasewasbuiltonmorefarms?
P:Itwasitwasonprivatelandreally.
I:SothediscussionswouldhavebeendealtwiththemIsuppose.
P:Yestherewasno(.)Icantrememberanymeetingtakingplaceforthesecond
phase.
I:Doyourememberanyonechallenginganyoftheinitialplans?Iknowthatthe
initialplanswherefor22windturbinesandthenreducedto18.
P:That’sright18whereputup.
I: I’m interested to know was that done by the community or was that just
planningrelatedissues?
P: I thought that they applied for 22 (.) turbines as far as I know but I think
logisticallyIthinktheyonly18wasmorepractical,Idon’tknowwhy.
236
I:Gettingbacktoyourroleintheclub,doyoufeelthat(.)Iknowthatitsreceived
funding , iv actually seen itmyself and it looksvery good (.) it lookswell put
together.Doyouthinkthatyouwouldhavegottenthefundingordoyouthink
youwouldhavebeenmuchworstoffifthesewindturbineshadn’tbeenbuild?
P:Welleverybitoffundinghelps.Butem::yeswewoulddefiantlybeallotworse
off if theturbineshadn’tbeenbuilt.Becauseah:: likeit isbeencomingintothe
parisheveryyearassuchand it is forcapitalprojectssoem:: (.) itencourages
organisationstodevelopfacilitiesreally.
I: Andwhere youwithin the ‘Parish Forum’ for thewhole time, so youwhere
representingthesegroups?
P:Yesinfairnesslikemostpeople(.)acertainnumberofpeople,Isupposemore
thanhalfofthepeopleontheforumwouldhavebeen,em::haveavestedinterest
insomeorganisation,morepracticallyallofthemreally.
But ingeneralat themeeting therewasageneral fairnessandehakindofah
responsibility to the community asmuchas anything.The loyaltywouldn’t like
cometoavoteas inoneorganisationagainstanother,reasondoeskindofwin
outinyouknowtheend.
I:WouldyousaythatthiswouldbeagoodexampleofaruralIrishexampleof
howwindturbineswouldberolledoutinanarea.
P:Wellitsits(.)itisagoodsystem(.)butatthesametime(.)peoplemightsay
areyoubeingboughtoff?Itsem::Ipersonallydon’tfeellikeitslikebeingbought
offatthemoment. Idofeelthatgreenenergyisanimportantsourceofenergy
anditsmuchbetterthendiggingupthebogsandburningthingsthatcreateCo2.
YouknowlikeIdothinkit’savaluablewaylikesomepeopleprotestthesightof
themandeverythingbut.Itsonly(.)therenotveryintrusiveandtherenotthat
ugly I think. But I do think that the fact that money does come back to the
237
community is very beneficial to the people that have to live in those areas.
PerhapshousevaluesmighthavedroppedIdon’tknowbecauseofthem(.)that
peoplemight find itharder tosellhousesor landorsomethingbut Idon’t (.) I
thinkthatem:thefactthatfacilitieshavebeenputbackintothoseparishesthat
areclosesttothembasicallystandstothoseparishes.
I:Keepingwiththat,doyouthinkbecauseyourcommunityseemstobeatight
knitcommunitythatcaresandlooksoutforeachother…
P:Yeahwellit’satypicalruralcommunityassuch.
I:Soyouwouldsaythatwouldbethetypicalstandardacrossthecountry?
P:YeahIwouldimaginesoyeah.
I: As I have been looking at participationwithin local communities, it’s a very
goodexample,IwaswonderinghowmuchIyoucouldgeneralisethisinregards
tootherplacesandcountieseven.
P:Yeahits()butforsmallcommunitiestosurviveyoudoneedtohavefacilities
andneed to have schools and you really need to have characterisation and all
thatkindofstuff.Likeinmoreruralareaswheretheyloosetheirschoolmaybe
andeven theirchurchand things like that (.) thatarea focalpoint.And if they
loosethosekindoffacilitiesthoseem::practicalfacilitiesforsportingeventsand
thingslikethat,theneh:theyareincentivesforpeopletogototownsreallyand
leaveruralareas.
I:Okyeah.Overalldidyouthinkthatthecompaniesengageinovereverything
really in theplanningphase, informationphases, followingupphases.Did they
doagoodjobinyouropinion?
238
P: Yes they did. They where comprehensive and they had a follow up on the
work that, you know I think everyone is happy as they could be with it. You
know.
I:Justyourselfdidyourexperienceparticipatingintheiswholeprocessdidyou
getanythingfromitorwasitachoreorwhereyouveryhappydotoit?
P:WellIwashappyenoughtodoitI’mjust(.)I’malwaysinvolvedincommunity
projectsaroundheresoyouknowitsjustanother(.)justanother(.)kindoflocal
developmentIsupposeprojectreally(.)I’mjusthappytobeinvolved.
InterviewEnd.
239
10.4.4.In-DepthInterviewTranscriptions~LisheenWindFarmParticipants
Interviewee: JohnHogan–Cahaoirleach(Councillor)Templemore/Thurles,PoliticalpartyFiannaFáil
Location: November11th2015-AlexanderHotel,
Dublin,RepublicofIreland.
Qualityoftechnology: Soundqualitygood,enabledperfecttranscription
Legend I:Interviewer
T:JohnHogan
I: I’vebeentryingtofindoutamoreusefulandinclusivewayofengagingwith
thecommunity…
J:Firstofallwhenthiswindfarmwassuggestedem(.) theycontactedme,the
LisheenMineswhichwastheirfirststep.AndI’mapublicrep,nowtheyasked
mehowIfeltandIfelttherewouldbeplentyofobjectionstoit.
Ipersonallybelieve in(.)greenerenergy, idbea firmbelieverthatweneedto
change thewaywe operate theworld andweneed to take a hard look at the
world around us. If we don’t where going to burn up and that’s the long and
shortofit.Globalwarmingisn’tajokeit’sareality.
But anyway so: I said id agreewith it so they said thatwhat they felt thatwe
shoulddoistosetupa‘ParishForum’,whichwasanexcellentideabecausethat
ParishForumwassetupfortodealwiththiswindturbinething,anditsworking
eversince.SowesetupaParishForumtodiscuss thewhole thingandhavea
formalparishstructureforsomethinglikethiscominginbecauseitcouldhavea
detrimentaleffectwedidn’tknowyousee.Theproblemisignorance(.)anawful
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lotofpeoplehaven’taclue.Theythinkit’sgoingtodothemharm,buttheydon’t
reallyknow.
SowesetuptheParishForumandweelected15or16people.Everyonecameto
themeetingeveryonewasallowedtosuggestsomebodyandthehighest16came
tothevoteandgotelectedwhatever.Sothenwestartedtodiscusstheissues.So
the first thingwe didwaswewent around and looked at variouswind farms
around the country. Now we found one negative guy from who lived below
RockchapelinCoCork.Shetoldustheysoundedlikeaeroplanesandhelicopters
atnight.
I:Okyeah?
J:Butshesaidshewasona lotofmedication for it.And then Iaskedherhow
longwassheon themedication?Andshesaid20years.And Iaskedhearhow
longtheturbinesup?2years…
I:Haha(laughter)
J:(Laughter)Funnythingaboutitis(.)onegirlgotthatintohearheadonourbus
and she went off and contacted national bodies who where opposed to wind
farmsandbroughtthemallbackandsaidtheywheregoingtodeafeneverybody
andallthethingsonthatthingIgaveyou.Theirgoingtodamagethewater,the
environment, landvalueswouldbedown40%.Landvalueshaven’tdropped (.)
onesinglecent.Thedearestpieceoflandeversoldinareparishwassoldabout
seven years ago under the turbines. 21,000(€) per acre forpurely agricultural
land.Fornothingelse.
I:Soit’salljustfalse?
J:Justrubbish.Ifafarmerwantsland,he’llbuyitsupposingthedevilissittingon
it.Theydon’t care. If there is sucha thing!They’llbuy it, theydon’t care. If its
besideanuclearreactorifafarmerwantsitthey’llbuyit.That’sthereality.Soit
241
didn’taffectanythinglikethatbutem:butthenasthefourofusthensetupthen
westartednegotiatingprice.
WhathappenedwasIwenttothemines,andIsaidtothem,what’sinitforthe
local community?So this iswhat I think isgoodpractice.Theysaid “I suppose
there has to be something in it for them”. How do you envision giving us
something?Theysaid, “wecantgiveyousomething” (.) “are company isAnglo
Americanandtheywouldn’tgiveyouanything”hesaid.Doyouknow,theirstock
exchange(.)theywillgiveaslittleastheycan.
SoIsaidwhatwaywillweworkit.Themanagerofmineisacleveroldfella(.)a
greatmanforcorporatesocialresponsibility.Infairnesstohim.Hesaidthat“if
youcouldworkitthroughtheplanningprocess”.SoIwenttotheplannersandI
saidcanyouput inacondition, thattheyhavetogivesomuchperturbineper
yeartothecommunity.Theplannersays“Jesuswecantdothatunlesssomeone
askesustodothat.Ithastocomefromthepublicasasubmission”.SoIwentto
thelocalmeetingsanywayandIsuggested(.)Ishouldhavewaitedawhile(.)that
weshouldputinasubmissionlookingforsomethingfortheseturbines.SoIwas
booedandhissedasthelocalcouncillorputtingupthewhiteflag.Thefollowing
morningIwokeupandtherewaspostersattheendofmylane“localcouncillors
shouldsupportlocalpeople”.Nowmywifesaidtomeyoumadeamistakethere
Johnwhatareyougoing todo. I said theelectionwascomingup in twoyears
later,Icouldn’tgiveashitletthemvoteformeiftheywant.I’mnotgoingtotell
themIbelievethatturbinesarewrongif I thinktherenot. I’mnotgoingtotell
themtokeepburningcoalandpeat.AndsoIsaidIknowthisisthewayIseeit.I
knowwecangetsomethingoutofit.
SoIwenttothenextmeeting,anywaytheysaidtome“againyoucannotsendin
an application (.) they said you don’t represent us”. Even though I’m the only
councillorinthearea,there’snooneelse.SoIsaidwhorepresentsyou.Sowho
represents theparish?Theysaid theparishpriestrepresentsus(.) that’swhat
theysaid.
242
I:Ok…
J:Theparishpriestisaveryquiteman,FrMurphy(.)veryquiteman.Sotheysaid
FrMurphycouldputinasubmission.SoIdrewupasubmissionandgaveittoFr
Murphy.HeaskedmewouldIworkwithhim.Butthedayofthe(.)thing(.)he
said hewas being bullied toomuch, he couldn’t sign it. Toomany calls to his
house toomuchpressureonhim. Soeventually I had to send in a submission,
andIdidit.Lookingfor40,000peryearfromtheturbines.
I:Andisthisbeforeeventheplanningwas…
J:Theplanningwasgranted.ButIknewitwouldbegranted.
I:Sofullygranted?SotheEIAandeverythingwasalreadydone?
J:Yeseverythingwasdone.Buttheplanningpermissionwasgoneinbuthadn’t
beengranted.Nowidspokenwiththeplannersandsaidyouknowthere’sallota
dis…of concernmaybe.But I don’t think there’s toomanywhere against it (.)
certainvoiceswherevery strong in the community. I think themajorityof the
community didn’t actually mind. A certain amount of voices where very
concernedandIsaidyaknowdoyouhavetogiveplanningpermission?Andthey
saidtheydon’tseeanyreasonwhytheywouldn’t.Thatitwasabsolutelysuitable,
thedensityofhousingwasverylow,itwasverynearBoglandandallatoneside
wasbog..
I: Did they getmany you know negative comments into the comment section
duringtheplanningstage.
J: There was 65. They where an organised group. Twas there selves their
mothersand there sistersand therebrothers.Agroupmanybeof the core15
whereprobablywheremostlyresponsibleforthe65.Andtheywhereallinthe
onetownsland.Infairnesstheyhadconcernsaboutthem.
243
I:Sotheydidputthatinandtheyhadasay?
J:Theydidhaveasay,ohh:::theydidhaveasay(.)yeahandtheyhiredanexpert
tocomedownandtheygotontelevisionnational televisioncomplainingabout
thesethings.Theywheregoingtodestroyalltheirlivesandallthisstuff.Sothey
madenationalheadlines like (.)Butat the same timea silentmajorityweren’t
opposedtothem.IfyouknowwhatImean.
I:Yeah,yeah..
J:ButIthinktheLisheenMines,thedevelopers,alsoknewthat.Sotheykindof
rodethestormandlettheplanningprocesstakeitscourse.
J:Sowhenthatwasdoneanyway,theplannersputitintotheconditionthatthey
give 30,000 per year indexed linked to the local community. But the biggest
problemis(.)andIthinkivgotthatwithme(.)Whatwasthelocalcommunity?
Toestablishthatthen…
I:Yeahbecauseit’squiteconfusingwiththedifferent layouts,evenwithall the
differentturbinefieldsnexttoeachother.
J:Myselfandafewotherssetup(.)(takesoutadocumentandshowsme)this
every quickly to see what is the local community. The community could be
considered Abbeyleix. We considered it as the Parish of Moyne Templetuohy,
becausewewheretheonesupagainstit.Sowesetupastructureeveryyearwe
would(.)agetthis30,000thoughamechanismwhereyougetpound(.)eurofor
euro.Ifyouspendaeurooncapitalprojectforyourparishyougetbackaeuro
off this fund. Its not for day to daymaintenance of clubs or anyt.. a good few
peoplewhere very annoyed about that. But I thought itwas the onlywaywe
couldprogresstheparish,ratherthengiveitforthedaytodayrunningyougive
itforcapitalexpenditureand50%.Andthatworkedparticularlywell.
244
What Ididafter thatwas thenandI felt itwaswrongof thecouncil tomakea
communitydothisthemselves.Butthatshouldhavebeenpolicy.Butyouseeas
usualthecouncilisamillionmilesaway.Somethinghastohappen,theirreactive
ratherthenproactive.
I:Yeah,Yeah..
J: So in the last countydevelopmentplan I got thedevelopmentplan changed.
Thateverydeveloperhastogive€4,500perturbinetoeachcommunity.Sono
matterwhereorwhenonesbuiltinTipperaryithastobeinthedevelopment.
I:That’sverygoodIwasgoingtoaskyouaboutthat.
J:IlookedforIcanvasedforthechangeinthecountydevelopmentplan.
Ithinkalackofunderstandingisthebiggestproblemoutofthesecases.People
feel likethena fewyearsagoTV3contactedme, Imighthavetoldyouthis the
other day. They where in the midlands doing a program all about massive
objectionstoaem:(.)bigwindfarmthatBordnaMónawheredeveloping.They
saidtheremustbeallotofpeopleupsetaroundyou(.)andIsaidno. Itsnotits
notIthatIwasinfavour.Iwasn’tactuallyinfavourofthematall,Ijustwasn’t
againstthem.
Sotheysaid“theremustbepeopledownthereveryupsetovertheseturbines?
Youknowarethereanyhouseswithin500m?”Isaidtheywhereopposedtoit
initiallybutnowtherenot.So theysaid tome“Doyouknowanybody?” and I
saidlistenilltellyouwhatilldo.Justsou’llgivefaircoverageinthemedia.Isaid
youcomedownandilldriveyouaroundareareaandanyhouseyousaystopat
ill stopand illgo inand introduceya. Illwalkawayand let themtellyouwhat
theirviewsareonwindturbines.Andthat’swhatwedid.
I:Youdidyeah?
245
J:Wedid.Theywentintoaboutfourorfiveofthemandtheyplayedallofthem.
Everyoneofthemsaidthesamething.“Aw::Ohh:wewherekindofagainstthem
inthebeginning,wedon’tseethem,wedon’thearthem,wedon’tnoticethem.
Theyplaynonegativepartinarelives.”
I: So do you think that the information going back to when they first put in
(planning)doyouthinktheinformationgiventothem,thelocalcommunitywas
itadequate?YouknowthewayitsstipulatedintheEIAthatyouhavetoengage
withthecommunity.
J:Ifeelitwasminimal.
I:Soyoufeelitwasminimal?
J:Itwasminimal.Itwasgoodbutitwasstillminimal.Itwasbetterthanwehad
inalotofthingsbeforehand.Youknowthere’sallotofplanningpermissionsfor
various projects we hear nothing. At least the held open meetings in local
communitycentresandinvitedpeopleintohavealookatit.
I:Okanddidtheydistributeanyleafletsor…
J:Onthatnighttheydidyes.Theydid.WellIfelt(.)IshouldhavehadthosebutI
don’tknowwheretheyare.ButIfeltmaybetheyshouldhavemaybecontacted
individualobjectorsandtalkedtothemabouttheirconcerns.Maybegoonatrip
withthe(.)whenwewentoffwehiredabusandwewenttolookmaybecome
withus.Talktothepeople,bepartofus.
Itbecameathemandusratherthen,welllet’sjustdothisforeverybody,you’re
goingtogainoutof itandwe'regoingtogainoutof it.Everybodygains in the
finishthat’stherealityandwegainasanationwiththeuseofgreenenergy.
I:Andmeetingarequotas.
246
J: Yeah andmeeting arequotas and avoiding fines from theEU that’s the long
andtheshortofit.
I: Another thing I’m looking at iswhether they had an impact on the decision
makingprocesswithintheplanswhentheywherebeingmade?
J:Nowedidn’thaveanyimpactinthenono.WellIsupposeinfairnesstothem
they initially looked for 22 and they got 18 (.) because the planning process.
Theydidhaveanimpactbecausetheplanningprocessagreedwithsomeofthem
maybetheywherealittletonearoneanother,apopulatedareaorsomethingso
therenumberswhere reduced.And in fairness to thedevelopers, theyweren’t
overly concerned over that. That’s fine they where willing to listen and they
didn’tobjecttothattheydidn’tappealit.Ifelttheywherereasonableaboutthat.
I:Didyounoticeachangeinthecommunitybetweenphaseoneandphasetwo?
J:Yes
I:Likeafterthefirstphaseobviously…
J:Firstphase(.) secondphasewas thecommunity.Thecommunitybuilt them.
Thechairmanoftheantiwindfarmgrouphasfiveofthemonhis land.Andhe
realised (.) you interviewedRichy, he realised that listen therenot asbadas I
thought.Andthat’swhathesays.Ihavetobelievehim.Hebuilt5ofthem.And
everyonesaidfine,grand.
The funny thing is, there was there was, actually more division within the
communityinthesecondphase,justsomepeoplewherejealousofothersgetting
them.Thatactuallydidn’tmind,somuch(.)idknowwhenI’mouttheirspeople
sort of saying “oh that fella, he wants it all, look at him now he’s getting the
turbines. Hewas against them last year (.) aw feckers theywant everything”.
Whereas they didn’t mind a multinational company getting them because we
247
don’t know them butwhen your neighbour is being better then ya its often a
problem.
Ithinkthatwasthecaseupthemidlands,becauseIhadseveralseveralvisitors
in the midlands who use to call to me when this proposed one was up the
countryandallotofthemwhereaskingme“andhowmuchwouldamangetifhe
hasoneinafieldbesidehim”.Inhisfield.AndandIsaidwhydoyouask?“My
neighboursgettingtwoandimgettingnon.Andthiswasallotoftheissue.When
thereneighbourwasgoingtoendup(.)yougetapprox.€25,000perturbineper
yearifoneofthemgoesuponyourlandforrent.Andtheywhereworriedthat
theirneighbourwouldhave€50,000ayearandtheywouldn’t.Andthat..
I:Thatelementplaysintoit..
J: That plays into it and is that’swhat’s divisive about communities, suddenly
yourmakingonemuchwealthierthenanother.Whereastheywherealllivingin
harmony, peas in a pod for years and suddenly one becomeswealthy and the
otherdoesn’t.(.)Itdividespeople,that’shumannature.
I:Anditsprobablyverydifficulttoplanthesethings….
J:itisverydifficult..
I:tokeepthatinmindifyour..
J:it’simpossible,itspracticallyimpossiblehowwouldyoudealwithityoucant.
I:Butdoyouthinkthatthiscommunitycouldwouldbeagoodexampleofarural
Irishcommunity,foraslikeatextbookexample?
J:Where a text book local well knit community all maybe traditional (.) Irish
traditions.TheGAA,CatholicandalltheusualthingsthatgowithruralIreland,
248
music running and all those things. It would be a very very tight knit local
community.Decentlivingpeopleyouknow..
I:Yeahyeah.Doyouthinkyoucouldtakethisexperienceandputitelsewh…
J:Ithinksoyoucouldputitanywhere.Ifyouusedtherightmodel.I’dsayifthe
LisheenMinewas back again theywould have learned from there experience.
Youknowprobably,moreengagement.Theymadeagoodstabat it.Maybeset
up the forum first and invite them in and saywhere thinking of doing awind
farm.Tellthemwhatthebenefitsofit.
AndIfoundaswellthatwhathappensis,thebenefitsofthatwouldbe.Whenyou
hold the first meeting there’s 120 people in the hall or wherever a small
community is, there’s20 roaring.Youholda secondmeetingand there’s80 in
thehallandthere’s10roaring.Youholdthethirdmeetingthere’s20inthehall.
Butwhathappensistheycometoclosetotheplanningpermissionandtheyall
get fired up.Whereas if you start holding themway out, by the time it comes
aroundtosay“is thatnotbuiltyet” theyhavegottenover the fearsandgotten
over.. (.) Iv found with communities (.) advanced warning is extremely
important.Ivbeendealingwithcommunities,ivbeenacouncillorfor16yearsI
knowiftheyadvancewarnthemthenyouhavetoeducatethem,itrelaystheir
fears.
I: Ifyou lookat it theEIAwascompleted in2006andtheconstructionstarted
around2009.
J:Yeahyeahsowhatdateisonthatreport,thatIgaveyouthere?
I:AhthereyougoMarch.
J:YeahMarch06,thatshouldhavebeengiventothepublicthenandthatshould
have been out there, such that would be inmy view. I suppose it was a new
process they hadn’t engaged previously. I suppose sometimes some people
249
would (.) the old fashioned view would be to say as little as you can and
hopefullytheywontnotice.ButIfeelyourwaybetterofftoengagewith,talkto
themandgenuinelyrelay their fears.Youknowandtakethemawayandshow
themdifferentthings,talktopeopleotherpeoplewilltellya.Ifsomebodycome
toareparish,theretoldtogoawayanddon’tworryaboutit.Wegotnothingout
ofit,wherenotworriedaboutit.Theywilltellyoupersonallyanyofthemwent
thoughthefirstphasesaidIdidn’tgainpersonallytheparishgainedtherewas
noproblem.Ithinkthat’simportant.
Wellyoucouldusethatasamodel,averygoodmodel.
I:Allotoftheseacademicreadingsreallydon’tlookintothecontextualareathat
much, I know that they have to approach things on a grand level in a kind of
guidelinekindofway.
Youknowthecurrentguidelines(.)Iwasgoingtoaskyouthataswell,inIreland
with thealloweddistances for turbines.Theykindofhave tobesetup tobea
catchall….
J:What frustrates thepeoplemorehere in Ireland is there’smore, therewasa
windcharacterassessmentdoneallright.Buttheydidn’tactuallypickareasthey
actuallysaidnoto.Andthatannoyspeople.
There’s landmarks say like Slievenamon an important hill(mountain) in
Tipperary.Althoughtheyhaventputturbinesonitthere’snothingintheplansto
saytheycant.
I:Yeah.
J:AndtheresanareadowninFaugheenCarrick-on-Suirthat’shugeresentment
downtheretoproposedwindfarms.Vastresentmentanditsbecauseit’savery
scenic area people have always visited it as a scenic area. So I suppose their
250
issues that the planning authority hadnt deltwith it, they feel that they havnt
beenprotectedenoughinthoesareas.Thatneedstobedone.Youknow.
I:Doyouthinkthefactthattheressomuchboglandintheareathatplayedinto
development,youknowitbeingasparslypopulatedarea..
J:Yes(.)yesithelped..
I:alsousedupindustrualarea
J: It is thepeatland is almostmilledout like. So it isunused landallotof it, so
peoplearesayingwhatharmisitdoinganybody.Andthebirdslike,therewhere
so many people on about the birds. Theres a guy called Shaun O’ Farrel, you
shouldlookhimupdoingyourthesis.ShaunO’Farrelheworkedonbehalfofthe
governmentmonitoringthebirdsthereforthelast7or8yearsaroundthewind
farms. Imet him resently, he toldme he had onlymet one bird dead under a
turbineinthelast8years.Andhesaiditwas(.)itwas(.)hedoesn’tknowif it
washitby(.)ithadamarkbuthedoesn’tknowitwashitbytheturbine.Itmight
havebeenhitelsewhereandmadeitasfarastheturbine.Hesaidtherewasno
evidenceanywherethatbirdswherebeingkilledbythem.Allthisstuffaboutthe
HenHarrier.
I:Ohyeah it causes about2yearsof a checking if it’s aHenHarrier area.You
havetohave1or2yearsofchecking,tomakesurethatitsnoahighlypopulous
area.
J: A councillor in are council, Mattie Ryan, he’s a real mountainy fellow near
Nenagh and he lives where (.) he lives with the Hen Harriers like up in the
mountains.Andhesaidinacouncilmeetingoneday,therewasafellagoingon
abouttheprotectingHenHarriersandtheseturbines(.)oh::sureMattiesays(in
anoverthetopaccent)“aHenHarriercanspotamouseinthegrassfrom200
yards and there going to run into a turbine 139m high” (Laughter)…. A Hen
251
Harrierwouldneverrunintoaturbine(.)sureiftheywherethereforeverthey
wouldneverrunintoaturbine.Thereabletotravelatmassivespeedsandpick
outamouseat200m(.)butsurelook.Nowhavingsayingthat(.)youhaveto(.)
wecant(.)wehavetolookafterallarespecies.
I:Yeahwehaveover33.3%ofraisedbogsintheEU..
J:Wehave,andtherenotprotectedatall really (.)notatall (.) theyshouldbe
protected.
TheinterestingthingaswelliswhenBordNaMónabuiltawindturbinesbehind
our(.)LisheenMinesones.Theybuilt12of14more.BordNaMónahadmassive
rowswiththecommunity(.)theyhavenocorporatesocialresponsibility.They
felt like giving you a job was corporate social responsibility and they gave
nothingtothecommunity(.)Imeannothing,andwecontactedthemyouknow,
whatareyougoingtodowithyourwindturbines(.)liketheLisheenMineshad
givenus(.)anditwasn’tmandatoryinKilkennyandLaoiswheretheyhad(.)do
you knowwhenwe changed the county development plan? They hadn’t been
changedatthatstage.
I:Yeah.
J:Butthey,thefactthatLisheendidwhattheydid,gavethecontribution(.)there
(Bord Na Móna) doing the very same again. So there now giving a voluntary
donationeveryyeartothe localcommunities.Andpeopleareveryhappy,they
are hoping more will come up down there, around that area of Laois. Down
towardsyour(.)country(.)Clonmeenand(.)itgoesoffintheotherway.
I:Yeahitwassurefrommygranny’shouse..
J:Who’syourgranny?
I:MygrannywasMaryWhelan.
252
J:MaryWhelan,who’sshenow?Ahsureillprobablyknow…
I: Sure you can check it up, but em:: sure iv been looking broading (.) to you
knowtheAarhusConvention?
J:Pardon?
I:TheAarhusConvention?
J:No.
I:It’sbasicallyoneoftheseoverarchingconventionswhereyouhavetohave(.)
withinEU law they are trying tomake it that youhave, access to information,
accesstodecisionmakingprocessesandaccesstojustice.Asapersoninregards
totheenvironment.
J:Ineversawthat?
I: Yeah that’s the thing, im looking into that as well, its suppose to be (.) its
Aarhus, that with two As. It’s the second largest city in Denmark, it was a
conventionthatwasdonein2008(.)1998,Ithinkitonlycameintolawherein
thelate2000s.ButI’mnotentirelysurehowfixedinthelawitis,itskindofone
ofthese(.)youknowit’saguidelineor…
J:YeahbuyyouseeinIrelandtheywillsayputupasignnoticeyouknow,then
youcangoifyouwishtotheplanningauthority.Butthat’sabitunfairbecauseif
someone…
I:Itsnotaccesstoinformation…
J:Itsnot,someoftheresidentsthatwerearoundthosewindfarmsah:wouldbe
inthere80s.Noideahowtouseacomputer.Wouldn’tbeabletotraveltogoto
253
meetings.Sotheymightseethesignbuttheyweretotallyisolatedfromthattype
ofthing.
I:Youseethat’salsowhatI’mlookinginto,becauseyouknowyouhavewindows
torespondwithhearingsandeverythingbut(.)howlongdoyouneed,andhow
oftendoyouhavesomeonetoengagewiththesepeople?
J: Realistically they should (.) send a copy, make a copy of the planning
permission available in your local community centre. Full access. In those
situations I would believe that (.) and if you did that everybody would come
down.Everybody.Youknowtheywouldcomeandhavealook.Itshouldbethere
at all stages (.) if therewas further information there shouldbea copyof that
madeavailable.That,thatwouldbeaccesstoinformation.Thatsnotdone.
I:No. Itsnot.Theotherelements I’vbeenable togleamfromthe interviews iv
done is that there has been access to justice and there is access to decision
makingbuttoacertaindegree.That’swhatI’mresearching.
J:IdtellyouwhatengagementtheyhadbutIdon’tknow.
I:Thescoping..
J:Itprobablyhassome.Itprobablyhassome,Icantremember.
I:Ithoughtgettingmyhandsonthiswouldbealmostimpossible.
J:WellIgotmyhandsonthatasthelocalrep,soIheldontoit.
I:Howmanycouncillorsarethere?
J:I’mtheonlyone(.)imtheonlyonearoundthatarea.
I:Sowhatareaisthat?
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J:It’sMoyne/Templetuohyandallthatarea.
I:Andhowmanycouncillorsarethereoverall?
J: There’s 9 in the Thurles/ Roscrea municipal district but I’m the only one
betweenMoyne/Templetuohy, Loughmore, Castleiney, Drom and Borrisoleigh.
Allthatarea,AnGharraí,Littleton.Itsabout12or14ruralparishes.Imtheonly
onaroundthatarea.
I:That’sgreat,wellitlookedlikeyouhelpedyourcommunityanyway.
InterviewEnd.