Ireland is still forcing rural communities to accept industrial-scale wind farms under planning rules, which are nearly 20 years out of date. The 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines remain the only statutory framework for assessing wind farm applications, despite the fact that turbines have more than doubled in size, new risks have emerged and multiple governments have promised, but failed to update the law.

The people of the Maughanaclea Hills, close to Bantry, including the communities of Kealkill, Coomclogh, Cousane and the Mealagh Valley, are the latest to face this injustice. Enerco Energy has entered pre-application consultation with An Coimisiún Pleanála for a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) wind farm of at least 14 turbines, each soaring to 169 metres (554 ft) – two and a half times taller than Cork’s Elysian building. A grassroots campaign, Stop The Spin, has been launched to oppose this plan, as this SID development would industrialise one of West Cork’s last unspoilt mountain ridges.

Nearby in Gortloughra, the community are battling a parallel proposal for 175 metre (574 feet) turbines by Statkraft. Cork County Council has already refused this application, but it is now under appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Yet another wind farm being proposed for the area is Derreenacrinnig West, with plans for the construction of three industrial-scale turbines, each rising to 150 metres (492 feet.) This development would sit visually opposite the proposed Maughanaclea wind farm, creating an unacceptable clustering of giant turbines across the Mealagh Valley and surrounding uplands.

Communities are now facing the cumulative industrialisation of West Cork’s wild ridges, with one scheme after another being advanced, often before the dust has settled on earlier refusals or expired permissions. The propensity of developers to keep circling back with larger and higher industrial-scale developments is clear, despite strong community opposition and growing awareness of the environmental, health and landscape impacts.

Noelle Aller Ontalba, spokesperson for Stop The Spin says: “With this broken system of outdated guidelines, communities are left defenceless. It is outrageous that in 2025, Ireland is still assessing giant 200-metre turbines under guidelines written in 2006. These rules were drafted for machines half the size, before today’s research on health effects, before EU biodiversity protections and long before the risks of Battery Energy Storage Systems were even imaged. Yet they remain the law of the land.”

“The 2006 guidelines set no maximum turbine height, no minimum setback distances and only vague reference to noise, shadow flicker and cumulative impact. They do not address infrasound and noise, they completely failed to consider fire risks, visual dominance or landscape destruction. Developers are exploiting these loopholes to push projects onto our landscapes, with Irish government inaction leaving rural families completely exposed.”

CEO statistics reveal that the percentage of metered electricity consumption used by data centres rose from 5% in 2015 to 18% in 2022 and to 21% in 2023. This is more electricity than the amount for urban dwellings (18%) and rural dwellings (10%). Data centres are expected to soon exceed the energy needs of all Irish dwellings combined.

Noelle adds: “The irreversible damage to heritage and landscape is extremely concerning. The Maughanaclea uplands are home to fragile ecosystems, peatland and protected species including birds, bats, amphibians, insects and mammals. The construction of turbines, substations, haul roads and cabling would permanently scar the land. Tourism, the backbone of West Cork’s rural economy depends on unspoilt mountain landscapes, panoramic views, archaeology and tranquility – all of which are threatened.”

West Cork archaeologist Tony Miller warns: “The Shehy Mountains, Mealagh and Maughanaclea areas contain one of the richest clusters of prehistoric monuments in Ireland, including wedge tombs and the Kealkill Stone Circle. These internationally significant sites will be overwhelmed, if industrialisation of the scale is allowed to proceed under outdated rules.”

Noelle concludes: “Our Bantry community and many other communities across Ireland are demanding action. Ireland’s planning system has been paralysed by government delay. For over a decade, ministers have promised updated wind energy guidelines, yet communities are still judged by rules are are dangerously obsolete. Families, farmers and small businesses are being sacrificed to industrial-scale energy projects that were never envisioned in 2006. The community is not against renewable energy, but this is not renewable progress, it is rural destruction by stealth.

The community of the Maughanaclea Hills are calling for immediate suspension of all new wind farm applications under the 2006 guidelines. Urgent enactment is needed of modernised, statutory rules reflecting today’s turbines scale, environmental science and EU obligations. Our community is mobilising to oppose Enerco’s planned SID application. We are urging communities in West Cork and across the country to raise the issue with TDs and Councillors and to submit formal objections to An Coimisiún Pleanála when the application is lodged very shortly.

For more information and guidance on submissions, visit www.stopthespin.ie

Media contact:
Noelle Aller Ontalba Spokesperson, Stop The Spin noelle.aller.ontalba@icloud.com 086 806 7474