A long-awaited planning application has been lodged for a stalled major expansion project at Ros an Mhíl harbour in Connemara.
The €30m project to develop a deep water quay got the green light in 2018, but the first shovels didn't hit the ground until 2022.
But works ground to a sudden halt in late 2023, after a legal challenge by activist group Wild Ireland Defense.
They successfully argued that ongoing work was unauthorised as an extension of planning permission was needed.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, has now finally lodged an application for substitute consent with An Coimisiún Pleanála.
That's essentially retrospective planning permission for works carried out that should have been subject to various reports, including environmental.
This application will have been carefully prepared with painstaking attention to detail given the stakes involved.
A decision is expected in March next year.
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