€420,000 funding boost for Wexford coastal areas
Coastal areas in County Wexford are to receive €420,000 in funding, from an overall package of €3.1m to assist 10 such local authority areas around the country undertake and complete 58 development and repair projects.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, funding has been welcomed in Wexford, however, those working within the industry say not enough is being done to support Wexford and Irish fishermen.
Minister Paul Kehoe welcomed the funding, which was allocated by Minister Michael Creed.
Five areas in County Wexford are to receive funding and Minister Kehoe said the money will be used to for upgrades and repairs, and to improve access to some of the county’s most popular resorts. He said the funding is particularly welcome given the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on coastal areas.
Kilmore Quay is to receive the largest allocation of funding with €307,500 being injected into the facility.
Dredging the harbour will account for €150,000 of the money while the plan will also see repairs to the West Harbour wall (€75,000), upgrading of the marina (€22,500) and upgrading of power points (€60,000).
While welcoming the funding and commenting that it will facilitate necessary work at the harbour Seamus O’Flaherty, of
O’Flaherty Brothers Ltd, which is a fishing company based in Kilmore Quay, said far more needs to be done to support those working within the fishing industry here.
‘ The funding is to be welcomed, as any funding is, but the reality is this won’t do a thing to increase the capacity of the harbour,’ said Mr O’Flaherty.
While welcoming the money ‘ because some of the boats are hitting the bottom when they’re coming into the harbour’, he said the fact remained that €3.1m for local authority owned harbours around the country was a sparse amount of money.
Mr O’Flaherty commented that €12m was being invested in Castletownbere harbour to develop facilities that hardly any Irish vessel uses.
‘ That’s really just helping Spanish boats and there is almost no control on Spanish boats either,’ he said.
‘ The Irish authorities do not really know their [Spanish] limit and even if they do get them they can just get out of it,’ he added.
With regard to Kilmore Quay, Mr O’Flaherty said what needs to be done is development of a new breakwater and increasing the capacity of the harbour.
‘It’s the busiest harbour in the country,’ he said.
‘ The marina is oversubscribed, it’s the busiest harbour in the country per square metre,’ he added.
‘Fishing creates a lot of money for the state but the problem is there’s little being put back in [to the sector].’
Mr O’Flaherty then suggested that support for the sector around the country is linked to political representation and that the last time there was a big injection in Kilmore Quay was ‘when we had three ministers’.
‘ The benefits of the industry are wide,’ said Mr O’Flaherty.
He said the fishing supports a broad network of businesses in Wexford and throughout the country.
‘Kilmore and the quay have almost their own economy as a spin-off from fishing and the Government should be coming down here and asking what we want because they are getting a good return on any investment,’ he said.
Other areas of County Wexford that will receive funding under the allocation include Courtown Harbour where €7,500 will go towards providing a barrier system on the slipway.
Fethard Harbour is to get €11,250 to improve access and for health and safety work while Slade Harbour is getting support totalling €71,250 for essential structural repairs to the harbour walls and slipway as well as ‘ health and safety’ work.
In New Ross, the marina is to get financial support of €22,500.
Minister Kehoe described rural coastal communities as ‘ the heart blood of County Wexford’.
‘When the country re-opens fully we need to ensure that our coastal resorts can get back on their feet,’ he said.