€5,866,000 has been announced for Castletownbere under the Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Scheme, with €110,00 allocated to works at Cape Clear.

The news was announced on Monday morning by Ministers Timmy Dooley and Martin Heydon, and is part of an overall €27 million allocation for capital projects in Ireland's publicly-owned harbours.

The funding for Castletownbere includes €2.6 million for the small craft harbour at Dinish, for which planning permission was approved back in November.

Another €100,000 is for the removal of rock under the oil tank and decommissioning of it on Dinish, and upgrades to the bridge.

€340,000 is earmarked for traffic management on Dinish, and €20,000 for disability access.

On Cape Clear, €100,000 has been announced for safety and maintenance works, and €10,000 for disability access.

The news was welcomed by Fine Gael Senator Noel O’Donovan and his party colleague Cllr Caroline Cronin, who said that said the news was ‘enormous and very welcome’.

Cllr Cronin said she was particularly please to see the Small Craft Harbour funding, as well as €250,000 for a new pontoon and gangway on Dinish.

‘Castletownbere is one of Ireland’s most well-known fishery harbours’ added Senator O’Donovan.

‘It is the workspace of so many people in the area and it is crucial that it receives this funding to support the modernisation and improvement of its infrastructure so that it can maintain its place as one of Ireland’s leading harbours’.

‘This funding will help improve the working conditions and the standard of Castletownbere's harbour and coastal infrastructure, but Councillor Caroline Cronin and I are committed to furthering the cause of the fishing community and industry to ensure that people’s livelihoods can continue, and that fishing can be seen as a reliable and stable industry to become a part of.’