Decision on €12.5m Fort Dunree tourism project due early next year

A decision on planning permission for the planned €12.5m visitor centre project at Dunree is due early next year.

The project, which was announced more than three years ago, is being examined by An Bord Pleanála after Donegal County Council was ordered to submit a natura impact statement in March.

Fears were expressed then by local councillors that the decision could set the project back years.

Án Bord Pleanála says a decision on the application by Donegal County Council is now due in early February. The planning authority could also decide to request further information from the council on the application.

The Fort Dunree Project, which is described  as a conservation-led restoration and upgrade of the existing visitor experience at Fort Dunree, has received €9.25m funding from Fáilte Ireland with €3.2m in match funding from Donegal County Council.

In March, An Bord Pleanála recommended that an environmental impact assessment report would not be needed but a natura impact assessment was required as the development “would be likely to have a significant effect” on the Horn Head to Fanad Head, Lough Swilly and Fanad Head special protection areas.

Donegal County Council had concluded the development would not have significant effects on the environment and the nearest European sites and further assessment was not required, but this decision was appealed by a member of the public.

The ambitious plans for the site, which were announced more than three years ago, have received some criticism from locals during the public consultation period who are concerned about the impact on the environment and access to the site.

Fáilte Ireland has described the project as a world-class visitor attraction. It is part of a  five-year tourism development plan aimed at increasing visitor numbers to Inishowen. Plans for a funicular cable railway or inclined elevator, which would have been the first in Ireland, were dropped from the project due to a number of factors including the “considerable costs involved”.

The project includes works to improve the existing high fort, works to improve the high guns installation, improved roads and parking, upgraded and new walkways and watchtower works and the provision of new public spaces and facilities. 

Fort Dunree dates back to Napoleonic times and was updated in the late 19th century. It was one of the Treaty Ports that remained in British control after Irish independence until 1938.