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Colin Doyle et al. v. An Bord Pleanála - judgment

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In Colin Doyle, Friends of the Irish Environment CLG, Futureproof Clare, Martin Knox and Christine Sharp v. An Bord Pleanála, the Government of Ireland, Ireland, and the Attorney General ([2025] IEHC 158), the Irish High Court considered a judicial review challenge to two planning permissions granted for a large-scale data center and substation development in Ennis, County Clare. The applicants filed the case on May 30, 2024, seeking to quash the permissions issued by An Bord Pleanála on April 5, 2024. These permissions concerned (1) the construction of six two-story data center buildings with a combined floor area of over 118,000 square meters, powered in part by 66 diesel generators and a 120MW gas-powered facility, and (2) the construction of a new 110kV substation and underground transmission cables. The Court granted leave to apply for judicial review on June 26, 2024, and set a hearing for February 25, 2025. In advance of that hearing, An Bord Pleanála conceded one of the applicants’ key claims, leading the Court to focus on a limited but legally significant issue.

Among the various legal grounds raised, the applicants argued that the Board failed to comply with its statutory obligations under Section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as amended by the 2021 Act. That provision requires public authorities, insofar as practicable, to exercise their functions consistently with the national climate objective, the most recent approved Climate Action Plan, and the goals of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. The applicants contended that the Board’s approval of a fossil fuel–intensive project, with no binding requirement to transition to renewable energy sources, was irrational and inadequately reasoned. They further argued that the Board impermissibly relied on speculative claims about future availability of sustainable gas, while requiring no meaningful emissions mitigation measures. Although the Court ultimately did not rule on the climate issues at this stage of proceedings, the arguments remain part of the broader legal challenge.

The Court’s March 21, 2025 decision centered on a discrete but critical factual error in the Board’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Specifically, the planning inspector incorrectly stated that no bat roosts were identified within the development site, despite the existence of a confirmed Leisler’s bat roost in Building 6C. This omission was acknowledged by the Board, which conceded that the inspector’s error undermined the legality of its assessment. The Court rejected arguments from the developer that the error was immaterial, emphasizing that under European Union law, any destruction of a protected bat roost constitutes a significant environmental impact. Because the Board failed to properly consider that impact—let alone assess the need for a derogation license under the Habitats Directive—the Court quashed both planning permissions. 

Colin Doyle et al. v. An Bord Pleanála

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Energy derived from biological compounds that are renewable due to their short life cycle within the carbon dioxide cycle.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.