Renmore a crucial link in Iceland-EU ‘digital bridge’

An application for a Foreshore Licence to build a ‘digital bridge’ linking Iceland and Europe by sub-sea cable via Galway has been lodged with the Minister for Housing and Local Government.

Farice, a company owned by the Icelandic Government, plans to provide an underwater telecoms cable system connecting Galway to Iceland and onwards to Denmark and the Nordic countries. It plans to lay the telecommunications cables underwater; it will pass by the Aran Islands, enter Galway Bay and land at Ballyloughane Beach in Renmore.

The Foreshore Licence application was lodged with the Minister last week, which commenced the public consultation process.

The public has until August 1 to make submissions to the Foreshore Section of the Department of Local Government in Wexford.

The application and environmental assessments, documents and maps can be inspected at www.housing.gov.ie or at Galway Garda Station on Millstreet, Galway City Council Planning Office, or Galway City Library on St Augustine Street.

Among the documents lodged as part of the application process are: a 63-page Ecological Impact Assessment Report; a 129-page Marine Archaeology Assessment Report; and a 105-page AA Screening and Natura Impact Statement Report.

According to the application, the cable will be “an industry-standard cable with the capability to transmit high-speed data and voice via light wave through the optical fibres contained within the core Unit Fibre Structure”.

The cable will extend from the landfall at Ballyloughane Beach in Renmore, and follows a westerly route through the inner section of Galway Bay before swinging south-west towards Black Head where it turns to a southerly direction to traverse the South Sound between the Clare coast and Inis Oírr. The route turns on to a north-westerly course and runs parallel to the Aran Islands with an offset of approximately 4.6 kilometres, to a twelve-mile limit off the south-west corner of Connemara. From there, it swings to the north west to traverse the Continental Shelf.

According to the application, there are established fisheries in Galway Bay and off the west coast of Aran that will be traversed by the cable.

“Liaison has been established with fishermen’s organisations in Galway Bay and the Aran Islands and this will continue for main-lay operations as to ensure that any potential impacts on commercial fishing interests will be minimised and that those interests will have adequate notice of the cable installation operations,” it said.

It said that it would not impact on established aquaculture operations, such as shellfish and oyster production.

If given the go-ahead, Farice previously said the installation of the cable would progress at approximately 20km per day with simultaneous lay and bury, such that the installation process, out to the limit of the Irish Continental Shelf at water depth of 1,500m, would be completed in about 15 days.

“The work on Ballyloughane Beach will be carried out in April 2022 and will take about five days to bring the cable onshore with minimal disruption to beach users,” it said.