Killough Biogas Concern Group

18/07/2026

🚨 ANOTHER KILLOUGH QUARRY BLAST RECORDED AS A MINI EARTHQUAKE🚨

At 11:34 a.m. on 17 July 2026, the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies recorded a massive magnitude 1.0 quarry blast in County Tipperary, at coordinates corresponding to the Killough quarry operated by Roadstone. 💥

This is the same active quarry where Roadstone proposes to construct a major industrial biogas facility containing biomethane production, gas-processing equipment, gas storage infrastructure and an emergency flare. ⚠️

The quarry blasting will not stop if this plant is built.
Roadstone intends to continue operating the quarry and carrying out explosive blasting directly beside the proposed biogas facility. How can it be considered responsible to place a large gas-production and storage facility beside continuing quarry blasts? 💣🏭

Decades of quarrying have already excavated, disturbed and fractured the underlying rock. Continued blasting raises serious concerns about vibration, further rock fracturing, groundwater pathways, structural integrity and the cumulative risk to the proposed plant and the surrounding community. 💧⚠️

Tipperary County Council refused permission. Roadstone appealed that refusal to An Bord Pleanála, now An Coimisiún Pleanála. A decision was expected in July but has now been deferred until 30 September, due to the stated complexity of the case. 📅

For the people who live beside this site, it is not complex at all. It is absolutely unbelievable, completely unsuitable and an unnecessary risk. ❌



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18/05/2026

Cllr Mark Casey said the proposed plant is located too close to residents and tourism hot spot Center Parcs

01/05/2026

Inconsistent treatment of woodland and habitat clearance 😏❓

The Killough Biogas Concern Group wishes to highlight an apparent inconsistency in how woodland and habitat clearance is treated.

As widely reported by local and national media, a Tipperary landowner was fined €10,500 after the removal of approximately 0.725 hectares of mature native hardwood woodland at Cangort Demesne, Shinrone, including the felling of 16 mature trees, one of which was estimated to be 283 years old.

The case was taken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service under Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, which restricts the cutting, grubbing or destruction of vegetation on uncultivated land, hedgerows or ditches during the bird-nesting season.

The Killough Biogas Concern Group fully supports the protection of woodland, nesting birds and biodiversity.

However, the obvious question is this:

Why is one landowner publicly prosecuted and fined for clearing less than one hectare of woodland, while decades of quarry expansion at Killough Hill — involving the removal and alteration of a far larger area of woodland, limestone pavement, hazel scrub and semi-natural habitat — appears to have received far less public and regulatory scrutiny?

This is particularly concerning because Killough Hill is not ordinary waste ground.

The NPWS-linked Fahy & Goodwillie survey described Killough Hill as having “very good ground flora” and being “one of the most valuable in South Tipperary” from a biological viewpoint. The same report also stated that the “hazel woods have been bulldozed in places” and that “limestone dust is widely scattered”.

It identified the quarry as the main threat to the hill.

Roadstone’s own biodiversity chapter for the proposed bio-renewables facility confirms that Killough Hill pNHA is of national-level importance, designated for:

- limestone pavement
- semi-natural grassland
- semi-natural woodland

The same biodiversity chapter records rare and/or protected species within the local 2 km grid square, including:

- Common Frog — EU Habitats Directive Annex V / Wildlife Act
- Common Kestrel — Birds of Conservation Concern: Red
- Common Linnet — Birds of Conservation Concern: Amber
- House Sparrow — Birds of Conservation Concern: Amber
- Sand Martin — Birds of Conservation Concern: Amber
- Eurasian Badger — Wildlife Act protected species
- Eurasian Red Squirrel — Wildlife Act protected species
- Pine Marten — EU Habitats Directive Annex V / Wildlife Act

This is the point: environmental protection cannot be strict for individuals but soft for large industrial operators.

The proposed Roadstone / former Glenstone bio-renewables facility should not be assessed as if it is being placed on a blank site. The ecological baseline has already been heavily altered by decades of quarrying.

Any further industrial intensification at Killough Hill must be assessed in the context of cumulative habitat loss, protected species, woodland clearance, limestone pavement loss, quarry expansion and the wider ecological value of the hill.

If Ireland is serious about biodiversity protection, the same standard must apply to everyone — individuals, landowners, contractors, quarry operators and large corporate applicants alike.

🎥 Timelapse video from 1985-2022 showing destruction of hundreds of acres of native woodland on Killough Hill by operations at Killough quarry

16/04/2026

🚨 Quarry Blast Recorded as a “Mini Earthquake” Raises Serious Safety Concerns 🚨

A quarry blast recorded today in Killough Quarry Co. Tipperary registered a magnitude of 1.2 — effectively a mini earthquake.

This is not theoretical. This is happening in real time, at the exact location where a large anaerobic digestion facility is proposed.

Local residents immediately contacted our community group following the blast, alarmed by its intensity.
One resident, living approximately 2km from the blast site, reported:

“Glasses rattled in our kitchen presses”

They also stated:

“The quarry blasts of late are stronger since the objections went in.”

Others described the event as so significant that they initially believed there had been an accident.

This raises a critical and unanswered question:

➡️ How can a gas-producing industrial facility be considered safe beside regular blasting activity of this scale?

Even the applicant’s own documentation acknowledges blast monitoring and vibration impacts — yet events like today demonstrate the real-world intensity and community impact.

This is not just about planning — it is about:

Public safety
Major accident risk
Cumulative industrial hazards

📌 These are exactly the risks that led to refusal at local authority level and must now be fully assessed at national level.

https://www.insn.ie/events/