Tide is turning for Galway

Our battered economy has turned a corner towards recovery, Galway Harbour Master has said.

Captain Brian Sheridan said that activity at Galway Harbour increased in 2013 – and when activity at ports is on the up, it’s a sure sign that the economy overall is on the road to recovery, he said.

“The level of business handled by the Harbour is up by eleven per cent compared with this time last year and we will go over the 500,000 tonnes of goods mark in 2013, which is the first time since the crash that we have reached that figure. We are an island economy, and in order for things to come in and out of the country, they have to come by ships. If the ship activity is up, that’s a sign that the economy is moving again – the economy is on the up,” he declared.

Not since pre-2008 has Galway Harbour handled such a large volume of goods and Captain Sheridan said that the company would start to hire again in 2014.

Captain Sheridan said the building of 17 wind turbines in County Galway has helped to boost activity at the port. In all seven ships carrying the turbine components will arrive at Galway Harbour in December and January. That will increase, too, in 2015 when the go-ahead is expected to be given to more wind turbine projects in Mayo, Roscommon and Leitrim.

Captain Sheridan said Galway City Council is poised to make a Part 8 planning application to lower the road at the bridge at Lough Atalia.

It is expected that work on lowering the road will begin in the fourth quarter of 2014 – the bridge has been hit by high vehicles on several occasions causing delays for trains and on the road. Lowering the road will greatly enhance Galway Harbour, he said, as it continues to import more wind turbines destined for counties across the west of Ireland.

Meanwhile, a new waste exportation business is also helping to lift the harbour’s fortunes. The Germans are buying household waste from Galway, shipping it to the Continent via Galway Harbour, and using it as fuel to burn in an incinerator, which in turn powers a paper mill.

The first ever shipment of RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) departed Galway Harbour last week, destined for Bremerhaven Harbour in Germany. It carried some 2,840 tonnes of RDF, which is waste that would ordinarily, up until now, be destined for landfill.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.