Gardaí called as local residents block barriers for Keelbeg pier

UNION Hall residents have pledged to resist all attempts by Cork County Council to erect safety barriers at the old pier at Keelbeg.

Within 30 minutes of a contractor arriving with new more robust barriers at 9.30am on Monday morning, an estimated 40 residents gathered – in the presence of gardaí – at the old pier to ‘peacefully’ stop the work going ahead.

A town hall meeting was called for Tuesday night and Aodh O’Donnell, chairman of the Union Hall and Glandore Harbour Development Association, said the 120 people in attendance vowed to oppose any part of the pier being blocked off.

At a Council Western Division meeting on Monday, divisional manager Clodagh Henehan said a major engineering study deemed the seaward side of the old pier to be in danger of subsidence and needs to be partitioned for health and safety reasons. The manager also said ‘a masterplan’ for the overall development of the Union Hall and Glandore bay area is what is needed, and the Council is seeking funding.

Locally, Aodh O’Donnell said residents believe the Council is considering taking an injunction to ensure the works go ahead. Before going to press, the Council had neither confirmed nor denied this to The Southern Star. 

‘If they proceed with this course of action,’ Aodh said, ‘they will end up having to take an injunction against the population of Union Hall and surrounding areas.’

At the meeting, Cllrs Paul Hayes (Ind) and Joe Carroll (FF) said that if the local authority takes away access to an amenity for the community, fishermen, and leisure craft users, it should put something else, like a pontoon, in place.

The gardaí were called'
(Photo: Andrew Harris)

‘This is the height of their tourism season,’ Cllr Danny Collins (Ind) pointed out. ‘It will have drastic consequences for the people of Union Hall because the working pier is too busy to accommodate leisure users.’ According to the association chairman, the engineer’s report was done years ago. ‘No one has fallen off the pier yet,’ he said. ‘Locals have been using this pier for amenity purposes for 150 years.’

He said residents understand that there are health and safety concerns, but the Council ‘cannot take away facilities and then leave it indefinitely.

‘Twenty-eight years ago, as a temporary measure, they put rock armour at the head of the pier. Are we going to be looking at barriers for another 28?’ he asked.

‘What the residents of Union Hall want,’ according to Aodh, ‘is for the Council to engage in a meaningful way with the community.’

TD Christopher O’Sullivan (FF) has urged the Council to sit down with locals before any barriers are erected.  

A spokesperson for the Council said it has ‘no further comment to make in relation to Council’s obligation to carry out works to section off an unsafe area of the former pier.’