Search

06 Sept 2025

Leitrim groups protest outside Dáil Éireann re: outdated windfarm guidelines

Leitrim Wind Aware and Save Dough Mountain groups attended

Leitrim groups protest outside Dáil Éireann re: outdated windfarm guidelines

L-R Adrienne Diamond, Nuala McNulty, Graham Robertson, Serena Kelly and John Mathews.

Reporter:

Donal O'Grady

24 May 2024 3:33 PM

Representatives of Save Dough Mountain and Leitrim Wind Aware were among the 20 groups that gathered outside Dail Eireann on May 21st.
The aim of the gathering, organised by the national group Community and Environmental Alliance (CEPA), was to highlight the concerns of communities living in close proximity to existing and proposed wind farms 
The groups are well aware of the need to move away from fossil fuels but the outdated guidelines which date from 2006 and the lack of regulation give no protection to communities or the environment.
Over 200 people from all over Ireland gathered in the sunshine with banners and county flags to voice their concerns.
Deputy Sean Canney for Galway East and Deputy Richard O'Donoghue, Limerick County, referred to those concerns in the Dail chamber on the day.
The Taoiseach, Simon Harris responded by saying they would have updated guidelines by year end.
The groups gave this a cautious welcome as community engagement needs to be a huge part of the development of these guidelines and a robust and transparent planning process needs to be in place for sound regulations.
L-R; Adrienne Diamond, Graham Robertson, John Mathews, Nuala McNulty, Keara McMenamin and Deputy Marian Harkin.
The Leitrim groups met with Deputy Marian Harkin and members of her team following the protest to discuss the issues and voice their concerns over proposed developments on Dough  Mountain, Manorhamilton and Croagh Mountain, Dromahair.
The current guidelines established 18 years ago were at a time when the average height of a turbine was 80m, the ones currently being proposed for Dough Mountain are 185m and Croagh Mountain are 170m.
A new windfarm being proposed in Glencar is at a turbine height of 155 m. Not only are the turbines getting bigger but the numbers in the wind farms are also increasing. The outdated guidelines say the turbines have a setback of 500m from dwelling houses so bear no relevance to today's conditions.
Adrienne Diamond, spokesperson for the Leitrim Wind Aware group said, "Communities are under siege from developers who want to erect wind farms too close to houses and farms and on unstable mountains in areas prone to landslides. There is no just transition in this profit driven industry."

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Sponsored Content

Multimedia

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now
Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Register Here
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

    © 2025 Iconic Media