THE natives in Union Hall are getting restless, according to elected members of the Western Division of Cork County Council.

Fine Gael Cllr Brendan McCarthy raised the issue at a meeting of the Western Division of Cork County Council.

He pointed out that a €300,000 budget had been announced for the restoration of the old pier at Keelbeg in Union Hall in April 2024.

In April 2025, Cllr Isobel Towse (SD) raised the issue at a West Cork Municipal District meeting saying a year had passed and no work had been carried out on the pier that a firm of consultants had deemed unsafe and that the local authority had unsuccessfully attempted to cordon off.

On that occasion, Cllr Towse said members of the Union Hall and Glandore Harbour Users Association had expressed their frustration that there had been ‘no engagement’ with the council over the previous 12 months.

Cllr McCarthy said he had been speaking with members of the ‘Save Our Pier’ group and told council officials: ‘We need to put a push on that project.’

He said the old pier, which is adjacent to the commercial fishing pier, protects the new pier during storm conditions and that everything should be done to preserve and upgrade it.

The county engineer, Brendan Meagher, said an environmental report was recently completed.

‘There is an expensive solution,’ the engineer stated. ‘We are looking to see if we can get funding for it.

‘For now,’ he added, ‘we are reviewing it, but we will report back very shortly.’