EDITOR - Recent articles in local newspapers have underplayed the scale and implications of the newly approved mussel farm in Kinsale Harbour.
The licensed site actually spans 25 hectares, equivalent to 21 GAA pitches or 38 soccer/rugby pitches, in Kinsale Harbour and adjoining the Dock Beach.
The licence permits seeding the seabed with mussel seeds to harvest 200 tonnes annually via dredging.
This is equivalent to 45 million mussels at various growth stages in the harbour at any one time. The volume of biological waste produced from this is staggering.
Mussel farms require moderate water currents to carry away waste, yet this proposal assumes, without evidence, that there will be no accumulation of organic matter beyond the site. In truth, waste will be swept onto Dock Beach on incoming tides, and pollute the entire harbour on outgoing tides, a space vital for commercial and recreational use.
Astonishingly, no Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was required or submitted. The Ministers declared there would be ‘no significant impact on the marine environment’, disregarding nearly 1,000 public objections submitted in 2019.
Not one objector received acknowledgement or consultation since 2019! Now, those same concerned citizens must pay €150 to appeal this illogical decision to the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board, as people struggle with the rising cost of living.
This process has been completely non-democratic. That is why over 3,000 people have signed a petition, with hundreds joining peaceful demonstrations locally to voice their opposition. A public meeting at the Temperance Hall saw such overwhelming attendance that many were left outside. Local workers in tourism, hospitality, marine leisure, and fishing voiced genuine fears for their livelihoods vs the six low-skilled jobs promised by the applicant. The ministers claim the development ‘should have a positive effect on the local economy’, yet they never consulted local businesses or residents. Had they done so, they would have heard deep and widespread
opposition.
This letter only scratches the surface of the legitimate concerns felt by the people of Kinsale and beyond. The decision to approve this mussel farm threatens irreversible damage to one of Ireland’s most beautiful harbours, providing physical and mental recreation to thousands of citizens and visitors annually.
Ministers Heydon and Dooley may show little regard for the people of Kinsale, or for the environment, but we care deeply. We will not stand by in silence as our harbour is sacrificed for one man’s financial gain.
Signed by local residents,
Ray Cummins,
Donal Hayes,
Michael O’Shea
Sincere thank you for all your help
EDITOR - To all the people who helped me, last Friday, June 20th. I fell onto Bridge Street, crossing the road, somehow I tripped and broke two bones in arm and shattered my wrist.
So many people rushed to assist me, and I could not have managed without that help.
I want to thank you all, for your kindness, and somehow express a deeper gratitude for breaking off your work, errands, free time for a stranger.
This buoyed my spirits.
Mari Novak,
Drombeg
Skibbereen’s Town Centre First plans
Editor - The continual improvement works in the centre of Skibbereen town are welcome over the last four years, mainly footpath works and overhead powerlines removed and subsurfaced. The upgrading and completion of surrounds in the area of the Square and Town Hall are equally welcome. Mind you it is probably the third or fourth time at least, that refurbishment works in the Square have been completed since the repositioning of the Maid of Erin in 1988.
In 2014, when the town council was abolished, there was a reserve of monies in excess of €1.2 million in town council coffers which was to be directed towards the then ‘Urban Renewal Programme’ - that was 11 years ago. It is difficult to see for what purpose, or in what direction those funds were used, if used at all in Skibbereen.
That brings me to the present time. In 2023, a well-attended public meeting was held in the Town Hall to gauge the opinions of people toward a ‘newer’ Town Renewal Programme: this one is titled ‘Town Centre First Regeneration’.
While the ‘Summary of Advancements’ from Cork County Council mentions all the streets linked to the town centre, nothing, as yet, has been mentioned for the town centre proper and there doesn’t seem to be anything on the horizon.
I refer specifically to the area always known colloquially as ‘The Bridge’, the square area between the new coffee shop to the west, Peter O’Sullivan’s shop to the east, and then both Caol stream walls north and south.
This Bridge Square is identified historically and geographically as the centre of the town. It is where the older settlements of New Stapleton and New Bridgetown converged, to be later spanned by the roadbridge over the Caol stream.
It is nodal at the junction of Main Sreet and Bridge Street, the confluence of the Caol stream and the Ilen river, the Council car park, Uillinn Arts Centre, and historically included the commercial aresa to the rear of Main Street, North Street, and Bridge Street.
Up to the middle of the last century ‘The Bridge’ was the centre for many social and cultural events. It hosted a live outdoor market at different times in drapery, hardware, shoewear, potatoes and vegetables, a fish market, public meetings, election meetings, musical entertainment and performers, and a small animal practice.
Be that as it may, it has never received an upgrade in any shape or form beyond seating provided by the Council during Covid. It is the only available, open public space available now in the centre of town. Therefore, and in the context of Town Centre First, this Bridge Square needs a regeneration injection that will contribute to the social needs of people well into the future.
It cannot be allowed to recede into decay. The provision of a public outdoor facility, a grandstand area to host community activity, would be well received by the public, ratepayers, and visitors
alike.
In conclusion, if the Town Centre First initiative is to mean anything, and if it is to serve its intended purpose, then the place to start First, not last, is surely the Town Centre.
Cathal O’Donovan,
Skibbereen.
