Gardaí have confirmed that they are investigating an incident at a meeting in Galway on Wednesday evening during which a bag of manure was allegedly thrown at two TDs.

In a posting on Twitter, Galway-based Fianna Fáil TD Anne Rabbitte claimed that a “bag of sh.t” was thrown at herself and another TD Ciaran Cannon.

In a separate post on Twitter, Deputy Cannon, who is also a TD for Galway East, said that a separate bag was thrown at him.

Proposed development

The meeting was held to discuss the proposed development of a major anaerobic digestion (AD) facility near the south Galway town of Gort. The AD plant has been granted planning by An Bord Pleanála despite strong local opposition.

“An Garda Síochána are investigating all the circumstances relating to an incident that occurred at a public meeting in Gort this evening, 4 Wednesday, 2023,” a Garda spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Yesterday evening’s meeting was organised by the Gort Biogas Group, which is heading up local opposition to the AD plant.

Local concerns

David Murray of Gort Biogas Group said local concerns relating to the plant centre on the size and location of the proposed facility.

Murray claimed that up to 90,000t of slurry, silage, food waste and other feed stock will have to be trucked into the plant.

He also questioned the siting of the proposed facility in an area of karst limestone cover, which has underground water systems and turloughs.

Murray pointed out that the proposed plant is close to Gort River that has 24 special areas of conservation (SAC) within a 15km radius.

Planning permission for the AD development in Gort was rejected by Galway County Council on two occasions before being granted by An Bord Pleanála.

Twenty large-scale AD plants are to be developed nationally by 2025 under the updated Climate Action Plan.

Transport concerns

Among the key concerns from the group was the increased volume of traffic the plant would create.

According to the planning application, the biogas plant will source 90,000t of feedstock from the agricultural and agri-food sector within a 30km radius.

The developers predicted that the average daily two-way traffic movements will amount to 51 per day, 29 of which will be heavy goods vehicles delivering feedstock and digestate.

Planning permission is being sought for a period of 10 years and an industrial emissions licence from the Environmental Protection Agency is required.