Baltimore's location gets caught in the web

IT was an invite Fianna Fáil Cllr Christopher O’Sullivan certainly wasn’t expecting, when he was recently contacted by a lecturer from Penn State University asking him to speak about the breakwater in Baltimore –Baltimore, Maryland – mind you.

An article from The Southern Star in 2014, featuring Cllr O’Sullivan talking about the breakwater in Baltimore, found its way onto an American website, Coastal News Today. 

However It seems the editor of the website thought the Baltimore that Cllr O’Sullivan was referring to was the capital of Maryland.

‘It was funny to receive an email from Hope Hui Rising from Penn State University asking me to meet her coastal engineering students in relation to my impressive proposal for the need for a breakwater within the harbour area of Baltimore,’ Cllr O’Sullivan told The Southern Star. 

‘Clearly the editor of the website didn’t think of questioning why a West Cork-based councillor would be concerned about the inner harbour of Maryland’s biggest city.’

Cllr O’Sullivan emailed Hope to inform her that the article she had read was related to Baltimore in West Cork and joked that if the University wanted him to come and meet his students, he would be more than happy to do so. However, while Hope explained that they don’t have funding for Cllr O’Sullivan’s trip, she did offer the services of her students to create a design for the West Cork project.

Cllr O’Sullivan said that in turn he would put Hope in contact with the Council’s Coastal Management section to see if they would like the input of the US students.

‘Well, it did bring a smile to my face anyway and just goes to show you that you need to be careful what you read on the internet – they might just get it wrong,’ added Cllr O’Sullivan.