The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has said the survey has the potential to "deliver significant long-term economic and environmental benefits for the area", and following a positive independent review, it was agreed that the initiative should go ahead.
It will be led by the Geological Survey of Ireland, and will extend the work of 'Tellus Border' (2011-13); a cross-border geo-environmental mapping project of the counties which border the north and south of Ireland.
The survey will take place from this summer and run into the late autumn. It will include airborne data collection along with soil sampling, and cover an area of 5,840 km2 – mainly in counties Roscommon, Longford and Westmeath. The ground-based geochemical soil survey team will cover a wider area of 9,675 km2, and include areas of counties Galway, Kildare, Mayo, Meath and Offaly. Welcoming the news that the survey is to be extended, Minister of State for Natural Resources, Joe McHugh TD, said: "Significant benefits have been already been realised in the border region from the Tellus Border project, not least an estimated €1.4 million inward investment into the border economy from mineral exploration activity.
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"Other factors such as improved information for assessing radon risk, data to enable better environmental management, and enhance agricultural productivity, are all highly relevant in terms economic and environmental impact.
"Based on this very strong feedback, we are best placed to assess the full potential for the extension of Tellus across other regions of Ireland. We very much anticipate that the value of this latest project will be reinvested in the north midlands region on a long-term basis."
Koen Verbruggen, Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland, added: "The highly successful cross-border partnerships on the EU-funded Tellus Border project form the bedrock for this next phase of surveying. I'm delighted that the Geological Survey of Ireland now has the opportunity to extend the Tellus surveying southwards and into the midlands."
(JP/IT)
