The Supreme Court has quashed an appeal by An Taisce against plans for a €140 million cheese plant in south Kilkenny.
The contentious project by Glanbia and Dutch company Royal-A-ware at Belview, Co Kilkenny had already been challenged at An Bord Pleanala and High Court levels.
Today, the Supreme Court upheld An Bord Pleanála’s approval of the plans in 2020.
The project is seen as crucial for supporting milk producers in the south-east of the country, but An Taisce have raised environmental concerns as part of their appeals.
ICMSA President and Greenane farmer, Pat McCormack, is pleased with the news.
“Hopefully we can draw a line in the sand now and they can get on with the building of the cheese plant.
“There are no winners in a court case and while the farmers and Glanbia might feel that the law came down on their side today, the costs associated with it over the last period of time, not just the costs associated of legal issues, but the cost of inflation is going to be huge to a development like that.
“So there are no winners but hopefully as a dairy industry we can move forward and progress.”