This article is from page 17 of the 2008-07-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
THE discovery of a rare and endan- gered plant along the route of the proposed Gort-Crusheen bypass now looks unlikely to seriously delay the progress of the road.
A rare Wood Bitter-Vetch was last week discovered on the outskirts of Gort, however the National Roads Association (NRA) and National
Parks and Wildlife Officials have examined the rare plant and now believe it can be relocated without causing any undue harm.
The plant was discovered at Kilter- nan outside Gort and is now likely to be relocated. “We take a great deal of care in situations like this. We have our own experts who examine plants to determine if they are of any signif- icance and we also work in tandem
with a team from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to ensure that the correct measures are taken,’ said Sean O’Neill of the NRA.
“We have done a great deal of re- Search into the Wood Bitter-Vetch and we have determined that it is Okay to remove it at this time of the year without doing any undue harm to the plant itself.
“We will be relocating the plant to
a nearby location shortly. It hasn’t cause a big delay in the project.”
The Wood Bitter-Vetch or (Vicia orobus) is a bush shaped plant which produces small purple flowers. A rare and protected plant in Ireland it is be- lieved to be more common in some parts of the UK, especially Wales.
Behind the scenes work is ongoing on the Gort-Crusheen bypass and the NRA are hopeful that contracts will
be signed on the Ennis to Gort sec- tion of the road before the end of this year with work to start early in the new year.
Meanwhile, Minister for Trans- port, Noel Dempsey confirmed that funding had been ringfenced for the construction of the Gort-Crusheen bypass saying that the Government would be appraising all current capi- tal schemes before the year’s budget.