Council insists safety an issue at Keelbeg

A LOCAL councillor has expressed the hope that the residents of Union Hall and Cork County Council will come to a compromise over the problematic pier at Keelbeg, but the Council is insisting it’s a ‘health and safety risk’.

‘We don’t want to be bringing the issue in here,’ Cllr Declan Hurley (Ind) said at a recent meeting of the Western Division.

‘It doesn’t have to be a battle.’ His comment referred to a protest by members of the Union Hall and Glandore Harbour Users Committee outside County Hall, and their actions to prevent a barrier being erected around a portion of the old pier at Keelbeg that consultants for the Council say is unsafe.

A more recent meeting at the pier proved to be more conciliatory, with TDs and local councillors promising to arrange a meeting between the Minister for the Marine Charlie McConalogue, management of Cork County Council, and residents.

Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan said the purpose of the meeting would be to discuss how best to source the €1.5m needed to repair and extend the pier.

Residents are aware that the Council is hoping to prepare a €200,000+ master plan for the development of the entire harbour area, but they say they would prefer to see that money spent in repairing the old pier as a community amenity.

That pier, which is located close to the busy commercial fishing pier, is frequently used by locals, Union Hall’s rowing club, marine leisure boats, whale watching operators and local fishing boats. Councillors, such as Karen Coakley (Ind), suggested that a pontoon would be a good interim solution.

‘We are all in complete agreement with the residents in Union Hall,’ said Cllr Coakley. Meanwhile, Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) said he had raised the issue with the secretary general of the Department of Marine when he attended the opening of the Dinish Wharf in Castletownbere.

‘It’s up to the people who go to Dublin – our Oireachtas members – to take it up with the secretary general and secure the funding,’ Cllr Carroll stated. Loraine Lynch, the West Cork divisional manager, responded to the points made by the councillors, saying: ‘The old pier is a health and safety risk. That is the biggest issue and concern.

People shouldn’t be using it. We have tried to close it off. That is what I have to prioritise.’ The manager said she understood there was ‘commentary that there is funding’ but it was not something she had seen.

‘The Council will meet with the Department to see if there is something we can do and follow up on funding,’ she added.

‘In the meantime, the overall plan for the harbour is something we are looking at.’