Greencastle to take 'breakwater' fight to Europe
As pleas for help on the governments abandonment of Greencastle's breakwater project falls on deaf ears, harbour users say they'll take their fight to Europe.
They've already made a complaint to the Health and Safety Authority and now the Greencastle Harbours Users group say they've no option but to bring their concerns to EU level.
Speaking to the Journal yesterday, the users group say there has been a 'deafening silence from Fianna Fail politicians at both council and Oireactas levels' over the controversial decisions to abandon the scheme, which has already cost around 8m euro.
The group are desperately trying to salvage the project - which requires another 5m euro to be completed - and say if it's not finished it will put both fishermen's and members of the public lives in danger.
But department engineers have received orders to vacate the site as quickly as possible within the 2010 budget of 104,000 euro.
The group say most of this money will be spent on demobilisation costs and redundancy.
In a statement to the Journal, the group said: "Accessing precise information on the proposed abandonment of the breakwater project is proving to be very difficult and has only been made available by way of parliamentary questions by opposition politicians.
"Even this information has been vague. The figures quoted as having been budgeted for projects and what has actually been spent simply do not add up.
"It would appear that money budgeted for certain projects has been returned to the exchequer because it could not be spent whilst the Greencastle project which is in a position to spend all it can get has been starved of funds."
The group have said they haven't gotten very far by speaking to Fianna Fail politicians in Donegal so they've decided to target their clinics.
And on Saturday they managed to meet with Deputy Niall Blaney who agreed to bring the safety issues and the probability fo the unfinished breakwater being washed away to cabinet and the Taoiseach if necessary.
Deputy Jim McDaid has now also agreed to push the issue.
Never before
The group added: "We are unaware of any harbour works ever being abandoned in this way anywhere in Ireland before.
"Just over 8.2m has been spent so far only to achieved a harbour that is less safe than when works started.
"The project is now going to be abandoned in a condition such that 5m euro of tax payers money will simply be washed away on the tide.
"Abandoning the project is a deliberate waste of money."
And it's not just fishermen the group say that are at risk so are ferry passengers, workboat crews, pilot boat crews and marine industry trainers all using the harbour on a daily basis along with the fishing community.
And during the summer months numbers increased further by passengers of cruise liners who land at the harbour.
The group continued: "The safety of all these people using the facilities in Greencastle is being put at risk by the abandonment of works on the breakwater.
"Ireland is critically short of marine infrastructure.
"Wasting what little we have is not an option."
Walkway closed
The group are also hugely concerned about the Sli na Slainte shore walk between Moville and Greencastle.
This has temporarily closed during the harbour construction and may not now be reopened because of the condition of the breakwater site at the Greencastle end.
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Weather for Derry
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: 7 C to 9 C
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