A PETITION signed by over 7,000 people - more than the entire population of Kinsale – against plans to develop a mussel farm in Kinsale Harbour was handed to Minister Timmy Dooley in the Dáil last week.
A delegation of locals from Kinsale including activist Marc O’Riain made the trip to Dublin to meet the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Marc thanked everyone in the Kinsale area who signed, supported and stood up for their community and their coastline and pointed out that the entire population of Kinsale is just 5,000 so a petition with 7,000 signatures is a really strong message that people in Kinsale do not want want a mussel farm in their harbour.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine recently granted Waterford-based company Woodstown Bay Shellfish Ltd an aquaculture licence to develop a mussel farm on a 23-hectare site near the Dock Beach and James
Fort.
There was huge local opposition to the plans from across a wide sector of people and groups in Kinsale with many having confirmed that they lodged submissions to the Aquaculture Licensing Appeals Board (ALAB) ahead of the closing date on June 30th.
Cork County Council also confirmed last week that it has also made a submission to the Aquaculture Licensing Appeals Board over the granting of the aquaculture licence. The local authority submitted its original obervation on the aquaculture licence in 2018 when permissio was first sought for the contentious projectby Woodstown Bay Shellfish Limited.
