22-month weir repair wait in Cork ‘not acceptable’
Lobby groups fighting to repair an important weir and fish pass on the River Blackwater in Co Cork believe it could be destroyed by a flood if they have to wait 22 months for the work to start.
Members of the Save The Weir, Save The Salmon group, which represents 12 organisations involved in sports and heritage, expressed their disappointment after meeting yesterday with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) officials and minister for state at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Sean Kyne.
It was Mr Kyne’s last official function in that ministry as he will today take up the role of Fine Gael chief whip.
He viewed the crumbling weir in Fermoy and said agreement had now been reached with the county council on how to proceed with the €3.2m project, which will involve repairs and the development of a new fish pass.
Mr Kyne said he had asked the council to provide a commitment in writing that it would provide €300,000 of its own funds to progress planning and to provide him with “a fully-costed design”. When asked if his department and IFI would fund the project he said he was “confident”, but admitted at this stage he could not guarantee it.
The lobby group expressed concern that no funding guarantees were in place and no plan to structurally secure the weir in advance of the 22 months it will take the local authority to design the project and acquire planning permission for it.
Paul Kavanagh, development officer at Fermoy Rowing Club, said that most of the club’s boats had been damaged as the level of the water had dropped significantly because the weir was breached.
He said the club was in danger of not being able to continue with its 100-year-old regatta if the weir deteriorated any further.
Tommy Lawton, a spokesman for local anglers, said tourism interests along the river could suffer significantly if salmon cannot get upstream to spawn.
“The majority of salmon are not reaching their spawning grounds, so in four to five years’ time their numbers will be significantly depleted in the river. Overseas anglers won’t come here anymore and that will impact the local economy,” said Mr Lawton.
Chris O’Donovan, who runs a disabled-friendly fishing boat on the river, said he was frightened to take it out on the water because it was so low at times he was worried about running aground with an elderly or disabled person onboard.
Cllr June Murphy, chair of the local municipal district council, said a firm commitment was needed from the Government to finance the project, “otherwise there will be no movement on it”.
“One good flood in the river and the weir will be gone,” said Cllr Noel McCarthy.
“[The timeline] is totally unacceptable to the people of Fermoy.”
Mr Kyne said he did not know if patching up the weir in a piecemeal fashion was the correct way to proceed as it could end up as wasted money when a more comprehensive job was needed.
