Judge dismisses challenge to €175 million Kilkenny wind farm, likening objectors to stubborn WWII soldier
High Court judge Richard Humphreys rejected a four-year legal challenge to a 21-turbine wind farm in Castlebanny, Co Kilkenny, comparing the objectors to a tenacious Japanese soldier still fighting World War II.
Judge Richard Humphreys dismissed a High Court bid by Save the South Leinster Way and Tara Heavey to nullify the planning approval for a €175 million, 21-turbine wind farm at Castlebanny in Co Kilkenny. While he acknowledged errors in the assessment of impacts on the freshwater pearl mussel and kingfisher, he ruled those errors were harmless and did not warrant overturning the decision. Humphreys emphasized that overturning a permit for trivial mistakes would undermine the purpose of judicial review.
The applicants, including local resident and hurler Henry Shefflin, had been contesting the project for nearly four years after the planning commission granted permission in September 2022. The judge also recalled his earlier criticism of the challengers filing their papers at the last possible moment, likening their persistence to a Japanese soldier still fighting in the Philippine jungle decades after the war ended.
Why it matters
The ruling confirms the wind farm will proceed, shaping local renewable energy development and environmental oversight.
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