Irish court delays construction of RTP compounding plant

Frank Esposito

An Irish court has delayed an order that would have allowed RTP Co. to build a compounding plant in that country.

The Irish High Court made the decision on July 30, according to an email update from Save Our Skibbereen (SOS), a local group that has opposed the plant. The decision also was reported that same day by the Southern Star newspaper.

Local zoning board An Bord Pleanala (ABP) consented to the decision. ABP had approved the project in late November. The main ground for the court’s decision, according to SOS, was that the screening by ABP for appropriate assessment was in breach of requirements laid down by the European Union’s Court of Justice in 2017.

The case now will be returned by the court to ABP for further consideration. That process will take 12-18 months, and no development can begin in that period, SOS said.

Officials with Winona, Minn.-based RTP had no comment on the latest developments. The firm has been active in Europe, opening a new plant in Poland last year. RTP also has European plants in France and Germany.

SOS officials said in the email that the decision “is excellent news, however it does not mean that the planning has been completely withdrawn and so we remain vigilant and ready to do whatever it takes to ensure that this development will never proceed.”

RTP, a major global compounder, first proposed the plant for Skibbereen in late 2017. Skibbereen is a town of about 3,000 less than 10 miles from Ireland’s southern coast. The 16,000-square-foot plant would create as many as 40 new jobs.

SOS is concerned about the environmental impact of the plant. More than 6,000 area residents have signed a petition opposing the RTP plant. Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons, who owns a historic castle in the area, also has publicly opposed the project.