PIER REPAIRS

HISTORICAL WEST SLIGO PIER FALLING INTO DISREPAIR.

AN historical pier in West Sligo is falling into disrepair, driving locals to try and do what is necessary to fix it.

Pollnadivva Pier, in Templeboy, has been there since before the famine. But the strong Atlantic sea is slowly eating away at the pier, with locals left reeling at what they say is a lack of action from Sligo County Council.

The pier is also much more than just a beauty spot on the Wild Atlantic Way, it is also used for commercial purposes by a number of different companies.

Charles Kilawee, a local pilot and an engineer, has raised his concerns over the state of the pier online, with many members of the public rowing in behind him.

He told The Sligo Champion: “There’s at least two families, if not three or four, who use the pier for commercial fishing. It is their livelihood.

“Also, thanks to the Wild Atlantic Way title, there has been an influx of tourists and they all visit Pollnadivva Pier when they’re visiting.”

The pier is used for walks, swimming, and people bring their own boats out to sea using the pier.

It is also used by Wild Atlantic Outdoors as on of their bases.

Mr. Kilawee says the pier has been in place since the early 1800s, and he feels that it is an embarrassment to our generation to see the pier in its current state.

“The pier was definitely built before 1837 before the first Ordnance Survey was carried out. Mullaghmore Pier was built in 1824 so we would assume this was built around the same time. So it is 182 years old.

“This pier was a tremendous engineering feat for its time and even for present day engineering. When you think of its exposed location on the North west coast of Ireland it’s fascinating to think that this pier has withstood at least 182 years of Atlantic storms. Just to put that into perspective.

“According to physicists, a breaking wave can apply a pressure of between 250-6000 pounds per square foot (1220-29294 kilograms per square meter), depending on its height.

“Of course there are many variables involved such as the salinity, direction of the swell etc.

“Keeping that in mind I think it’s a great embarrassment to our generation and our time that we cannot provide what should be simple maintenance to prevent much greater and costly damage.”

Despite the concerns of locals, which they say have been raised numerous times over decades, there is yet to be any major repair work done to the pier itself.

“I don’t have any political agenda other than to raise awareness of this wonderful historical asset or amenity in our picturesque locality,” Charles continued.

“I’m led to believe that €500,000 was spent on the road leading to the pier and the pier itself. I and many others are baffled by this when you consider the state that the pier is in.

“What would be the point in having a lovely road if it leads to a non-functional pier?

“We want to get more people behind this. It would be like Knock having a gorgeous runway with a terminal building that’s falling apart. We were told that an underwater survey had to be carried out. Why would an underwater survey have to be carried out to fix the top of the pier?

“Those in paid positions should be held accountable for this. This has been going on for years. The road leading up to the pier is a great road and in very condition and credit where credit is due.” Charles feels that all that was needed initially was a small bit of concrete, to hold together the handcut stones which sit on the pier, and it would repair the problem.

“The damage was fairly bad a while back but all it needed was a cubic metre of concrete. It’s not as if the County Council don’t know because they did have bollards up there.

“Why wait until now to do something about it?

“I took the first lot of photos on the Sunday and I knew by the weather that there would be more damage done by the weather over the weekend.

“It’s disgusting that this has been allowed to happen.”

The sea has cut open a section of the pier, forcing the council to leave safety bollards at the entrance to the pier to warn people of the dangerous state that the pier is in.

But that leaves questions as to what happens the pier now? And will work be done to repair the damage?

“The outside of the structure withstands the ferocious storms, but when you look into the breaches you can see loose stones and when that’s open, they’re just washed everywhere.

“If a wave hits a cavity it just acts like a bomb and it totally weakens the structure.

“These are handcut stones in the cobbled surface, and they are just being washed away. If you used concrete to fill in the breaches you could push those stones into the concrete.

“All of this could have been done very easily, but we don’t have that luxury in this case.

“There are bollards around it now. A number of families who use the pier were on to the council about it, why wasn’t it done in August before the winter hit?

“It’s so frustrating. This pier is of huge historical significance to the area. People of that time were able to build such an impressive structure, and you would think that with all the engineering and brains that we have nowadays that we would have been able to prevent this from happening.”

Local man Benny Kilgannon who uses the pier regularly says he also has been trying to get the required repairs done to the pair for decades.

He told The Sligo Champion: “I’ve been chasing up on this for 20 years to get work done and I’ve been left waiting. I use the pier regularly myself.

“A lot of tourists launch their boats around here as well so it’s an awful shame.”

Ciaran Lennon of Wild Atlantic Outdoors who is also a Commercial Scuba Diver told The Sligo Champion that the state of the pier will undoubtedly affect his business.

“It will definitely change my business in a way. We do a lot of kayaking tours and we launch from a few piers, this is one of them.

“I live in the house across the pier road and I spend a lot of time down here by the pier.

“This was just a minor fix a long time ago and if it was done then it wouldn’t be in the same condition it’s in now. We cannot access it now.

“The pier is being undercut, you can walk on a bit of concrete but there’s nothing underneath you. The tarmac is being moved by the sea.”

He says there is no way he can bring tourists to the pier at the minute with the state that it is in.

“You can’t drive down to the pier right now with the bollards in the way.

“I’d see a lot of people and tourists going down there and they’ ll be going down to the pier to see it.

“The damage was done already. The extra safety bollards are there.

“You can’t bring anyone down the pier now. Not a hope. If I bring people down a structure that has signs that say ‘stop’ then I am liable if something happens to them.

“An underwater survey which we were told was included in the €500,000 spent was not required especially on this pier as you can easily access the whole foundation by foot during low tide.”

Sligo County Council was contacted for a response.