The Corkman

Cllr insists town council not at fault for weir fiasco

CALL TO MEET WITH MINISTERS TO SEEK FUNDING FOR REPAIRS TO FERMOY WEIR

- BILL BROWNE

A FORMER Fermoy town councillor has insisted that the now defunct authority did all within its power to ensure that repair works to the controvers­ial weir in Fermoy were carried put as part of the multi-million Euro Fermoy Flood Plan.

Cork county councillor Noel McCarthy, who sat on the town council from 2009-2014, said “no stone had been left unturned” by the town council in trying to seek funding for repairs to the structure.

His comments came during a discussion on the issue at the council’s June northern area meeting, on foot of a motion placed by Cllr Deirdre O’Brien (FF). She called on the authority to seek a deputation with OPW Minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran and Minister for State for Rural Affairs Sean Kyne to seek funding for repairs to the weir.

“This has been ongoing for a number of years and could have been done at the same time that the Fermoy flood barriers were being installed,” said Cllr O’Brien.

She said the River Blackwater was of huge benefit both financiall­y and in terms of amenities to Fermoy and the wider north Cork area and the failure to repair the weir could potentiall­y close down the local rowing club and affect migrating salmon in the river.

“Time is dragging on and it will ruin the River Blackwater for all users if this is not addressed. We cannot do nothing about this and just quietly walk away,” she said.

Cllr Frank O’Flynn (FF) pointed out that councillor­s had met with divisional manager Jim Fogarty on the funding issue four weeks ago and that another meeting was scheduled to be held within six-weeks of that to discuss progress.

“There was a missed opportunit­y here in that Fermoy Town Council should have sought an agreement with the flood plan contractor­s for this work to be done then,” said Cllr O’Flynn.

“I want to know when are we likely to have another meeting with Mr Fogarty. He said he would contact the OPW about potential funding streams and I am calling for all involved to find a solution to this issue, secure funding and put a timeframe in place for repair works. We need answers and we need them now,” he said.

Cllr McCarthy said that while he supported the motion, he rejected any criticism of Fermoy Town Council in relation to the weir issue.

“I can an assure you that no stone was left unturned in trying to seek the funding to get the weir repaired. It was on our agenda in 2009 and again in 2011 when the flood relief works were being planned and carried out. So, you can play the blame game all you want, but what we need now is to look at how we can resolve this issue,” he said.

“We need a deputation to meet not just the Ministers but other department­s that may have control over funding,” he added.

Senior Council executive officer Mary Hayes said it would be “premature” to seek a deputation with the Ministers until all of the issues discussed at the meeting four weeks ago were thoroughly investigat­ed.

These issues included arranging meetings with government department­s to seek funding, an agreement on the scope of works needed and the undertakin­g of an economic impact assessment.

“It would be premature to seek a deputation before we see the outcomes of the actions agreed on at that meeting,” said Ms Hayes.

“The first action that should be committed to is that a meeting take place with the divisional manager within the six week period.”

Cllr O’Brien suggested that, in light of the Dáil summer recess, it might be prudent to at least signal the authority’s intention to seek a deputation with the Ministers “so as not to let this issues drag on any further.”

 ??  ?? The damaged weir and fish pass in Fermoy.
The damaged weir and fish pass in Fermoy.

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