One of the North County’s leading businessmen has slammed the County Council for the decision to locate the proposed Super Sewage Plant in the North County. Martin Tully set up Tully Nurseries over 30 years ago and in this time has become the largest producer and exporter of shrubs in Ireland. He spoke to the County Leader about his genuine concerns for the future of his business, should the sewage plant go ahead. “My business is located less than a mile from two of the proposed sites at Annsbrook and Newtowncorduff. If the wind blows the stink from either site, my customers will not hang around.” Tully spoke about the great difficulties he and his family had to overcome to set up his businesses in the North County and the efforts made to attract customers both large and small to come to North County Dublin, may be all for nothing.“I remember travelling the length and breadth of Britain at the height of the ‘Troubles’ when it was not fashionable to promote Ireland. I did so and made the vital connections which meant that my business grew and developed to where it is today. This decision now puts all this at risk,” he said. He went further and suggested that this will be the death knell for the vegetable business in North County Dublin. “The well deserved reputation of this area as the Market Garden of Ireland will be destroyed forever and our grandchildren will be known as the people who live where the sewer is. - what a legacy to leave them.” The fact that a very large proportion of the vegetables consumed in this country are grown in the heart of the North County is another cause of great concern to him, should the sewage plant go ahead. Like many in the area, he feels that North County Dublin has taken its fair share of rubbish from Dublin and that it is grossly unfair to saddle a community with the stress of having to take the sewage of Wicklow, Meath, Kildare and other parts of Dublin. He then proceeded to give a chilling reminder to the ‘faceless’ decision makers and said: “these people need to stand up and admit that they destroyed Fingal, a once beautiful place.” He also called on Minister James Reilly, who represents the people of this area to talk to Minister Phil Hogan and stop this lunacy at once. He was also critical about the underhand way that this project was conceived. He claims that “this plan has been hatching for several years in the Department of the Environment and councillors were never made aware of the plans. He describes this silence as “the hallmark of tyranny.” There may well have been a directive from Europe to clean up our act, but I doubt if that meant foisting a Super Sewage Plant on the people of North County Dublin.” He said that there is “no vision whatsoever in this project and when there is no vision, people suffer.” A clearly angry Tully went on to speak about the irreversible damage that a monster sewage plant will have on the reputation of North County Dublin. “We supply plants all over the country and to the UK. Our reputation as plant suppliers and the area’s reputation as vegetable producers will be destroyed forever. We should be trying to further enhance our well deserved reputation as a location for business. Instead, we will drive people away in their droves.” The present government is placing much emphasis on wasteful spending and should put a stop to any more spending on this project immediately. He then quoted Albert Einstein: “Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity.” I’m not so sure about the former,” he said