Galway Port faces terminal decline

Grim predictions that Galway Harbour could go into a terminal decline unless a proposed €126 million redevelopment goes ahead were heard during the second week of a full oral hearing into the project.

The Harbour Master, Brian Sheridan, said Galway Harbour Company was advised as far back as October 2000 that trade would go into decline over 25 years without a process of relocating and upgrading.

“The operation of the harbour as it currently exists has become increasingly difficult over the past decade,” he said.

“This is largely due to the size of ships now calling at Galway. On a number of occasions, I have had to deny access of ships which I considered too large for the port as the risk to the marine environment and public safety was too great.”

Captain Sheridan said the proposed relocation of an oil jetty would resolve risk and related planning issues. “For reasons of public health and safety, the relocation of the commercial business is imperative,” he told the hearing.

He recalled a fire which occurred on a fishing boat in April of last year. The blaze effectively brought the city “to a standstill” for five and a half hours. He said it was imperative that the oil discharge jetty be relocated further away from the city centre.

The CEO of Galway Harbour, Eamon Bradshaw, told the An Bord Pleanála hearing that ships are sometimes left sitting off Mutton Island for long periods because the current port was effectively only open for four hours in any 24 hour cycle.

He pointed out that the new National Ports Policy identified the harbour as a strategic regional hub for petroleum, while its current location close to the city centre limited its potential for further expansion. The proposed redevelopment will allow the port to accommodate cruise ships.

Mr Bradshaw said the board of Galway Harbour was obliged to look at the future of the port as a commercial entity capable of servicing the western region.

“The alternative was to see the port decline and with it the possible disappearance of a tradition of commercial trading from Galway going back over a 1,000 years,” he told the hearing.

Public representatives also spoke in support of the project. Deputy Noel Grealish (Independent) said the redevelopment would give hope to the people of the region. He criticised the Shannon Foynes Port Company for objecting to the Galway development.

“Foynes seem to think they have a God-given right to take all the business from Donegal down to Kerry,” he said. “The Foynes objection to Galway Port is without any sound basis and solely based on their own financial considerations.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.