An Taisce welcomes decision to protect setting of Mellifont Abbey

An Taisce has welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse permission for a retail and coffee shop near the approach to Mellifont Abbey in Co. Louth. This followed an appeal taken by both the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and An Taisce against a decision notification by Louth County Council. The application site was one where two previous proposals for a house by the applicants Malachy and Josephine Sullivan had been refused.

The proposal was refused on the following grounds:

1. “by reason of visual obtrusion and interference with its overall setting, the proposed development would seriously injure a unique National Monument”.
2. “The proposed development has the potential to adversely impact on archaeological material and features associated with the archaeological complex, due to its proximity to Mellifont Abbey”

 Mellifont Abbey was founded in 1142 as the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland. It has an attractive rural setting on the River Mattock north of the Boyne Valley.

The permission decision by Louth County Council, despite strong objections from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, highlights the inadequate implementation of national heritage protection policies by local authorities. It also justifies the need for prescribed bodies, in particular the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government; The Heritage Council; Failte Ireland; and other bodies, to take a more active role in evaluating planning applications and appealing inappropriate decisions to An Bord Pleanála.