Former minister calls for fast-tracking of Aran harbour projects

Harbour projects on two of the smaller Aran Islands need to be fast-tracked as a matter of urgency due to real safety concerns, a former Gaeltacht Minister has urged this week.

West Galway Fianna Fáil TD, Éamon Ó Cuív, told the Connacht Tribune that there were very real health and safety concerns over the harbours serving Inis Meáin and Inis Oirr.

“It is quite incredible to think that the planning permission was granted for the Inis Oirr project back in 2008 and it still hasn’t been completed.

“The way is clear for this work to be completed at a cost now estimated to be in the region of €15 million. If it was done, when it should have been done, the cost would have been about half that,” said Deputy Ó Cuív.

He said that there were serious safety concerns as regards wave overtopping at the harbour on Inis Oirr while in certain weather conditions there wasn’t sufficient shelter for boat passengers or people standing onshore.

Deputy Ó Cuív said that the Cé an Chalaidh Mhóir harbour serving Inis Meáin was way behind the Inis Oirr project in terms of planning, design and budget issues.

“There’s no point in just saying that funding is available when people don’t know whether the project is going to cost €50 million or €100 million.

“It’s like telling someone to design a house without giving them any budget or plan. We need the Department [Rural Development and the Islands] just to get on with it.

“One is ready to go [Inis Oirr] while the other [Inis Meain] needs to have a proper plan and budget finalised. But we must move on with both of them,” said Deputy Ó Cuív.

He said that, as in the case of the Inis Oirr facility, there were also real safety concerns over the current harbour at Inis Meáin, with two people over the years having lost their lives in quayside accidents.

Deputy Ó Cuív raised the issue of the island harbours in the Dáil on September 29 last and was told by Minister of State, Joe O’Brien (Green Party), that the business case for the Inis Oirr pier had been approved by the Department.

“Galway County Council is in the process of resolving a number of pre-construction issues prior to issuing a draft tender for their development.

“These include an application for a foreshore licence for the works on the island; the completion of environmental reports for an appropriate assessment; and preparing the compulsory order applications.

“The timetable has been discussed by the development committee, providing for a tendering process of approximately nine months, after which construction will advance in stages.

“The finalised plan is likely to take several years to complete, taking account of the weather and sea conditions,” said Minister of State [Community, Rural Development and the Islands], Joe O’Brien.

He said that as regards the Inis Meáin project, ‘the business case was still in development with Galway County Council with the proposed design of the harbour and pier to be informed by modelling work being carried out at the National Maritime College of Ireland in Cork.

Deputy O’Brien said that once the modelling case had been completed – and its impact on design fully understood – the business case could then proceed for approval.

According to Deputy Ó Cuív, the replies he had received from Minister of State, Joe O’Brien, indicated to him that the Inis Oirr project would not be happening in 2022.

Inis Oirr, the smallest of the Aran Islands by land size, has a population of just under 300, while the middle island Inis Meáin, has just under 200 residents. Inis mór, the biggest of the three islands, has a population of around 800.