By Fearghal O’connor
Copyright independent
The Avoca, Co Wicklow-based firm is seeking a judicial review of a decision by the planning board to refuse it permission to build a storage facility in a rural area of north Co Mayo.
Over 25 years in the business, Rocket has put on firework displays for everyone from Taylor Swift and the Spice Girls to Guns n’ Roses and Leinster Rugby. It also does a large number of weddings as well as displays at Halloween.
The planning application was refused by Mayo County Council planners, who claimed there was insufficient justification for the proposed development at a rural location.
The only place you can store explosives, realistically, is in rural Ireland
The company unsuccessfully appealed the decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála, arguing that the nature of its operation meant it needed to be located in a rural isolated area.
Rocket Pyrotechnics owner Gary Breen told the Sunday Independent that the plan to build the storage facility on land near his parents’ home close to Killala is an important step for the company.
“The only place you can store explosives, realistically, is in rural Ireland. You cannot put storage for two tonnes of fireworks in a built up area. There are very strict guidelines about where it can be situated around safety distances.”
Breen said that the storage unit was important to the company because it meant that it would not have to import fireworks from the North and Britain for every event.
It is very frustrating. This is a regulated business and should be very straightforward
“If we had a storage facility we would not be relying on ferries for the continuity of our supply chain, for example.”
But, he said, the company had now been turned down by three local authorities – Wicklow, Wexford and Mayo.
“It is very frustrating,” he said. “This is a regulated business and should be very straightforward. I have spoken with the government inspector of explosives and with the fire officer in Mayo as well, and they are OK with the sites as long as we meet all the criteria.
“But planning permission is the first step before any of that and we are getting refused because of the interpretation of county development plans.”
