Michael Duffy
IT may be an announcement over 30 years in the waiting but there weren’t too many people celebrating in Áras an Chontae on Monday evening when Bord Gáis revealed details of their Gaswest Project which will see natural gas flowing into Castlebar by the end of the year.
Westport will follow shortly after, being connected in March 2008, but Ballina will have to wait exactly a year longer – a fact which raised plenty of ire among Fine Gael representatives from the north Mayo capital.
Three Bord Gáis representatives attended at the monthly meeting of the Mayo County Council to relay the good news of the €40 million Gas Project, a three-year development project for the west of Ireland which will deliver natural gas to eleven towns, seven of which are in Mayo, the three aforementioned towns along with Ballyhaunis, Knock, Claremorris and Crossmolina.
Work will commence in Castlebar next month but the news that only preparatory work will begin in Ballina this year clearly angered Michelle Mulherin, who said this was ‘pathetic, a disgrace and out and out neglect of Ballina’.
“We are told in the National Development Plan that Ballina is a hub town but this means absolutely nothing. We have been promised lots of things and here we are left waiting behind other towns again. This is a huge blow to our plans to try and attract industry to the town and it’s nothing short of a disgrace,” said Cllr Mulherin, who was accused by Cllr Johnnie O’Malley of ‘coming to the meeting looking for bad news and was not happy to hear some good news’.
Mr John Barry, Head of Network Construction at Bord Gáis, assured Cllr Mulherin that gas would be delivered to Ballina in line with the announcement made after the evaluation study last October, which was by March 2009.
“We quite simply cannot do all the towns at once, it is not possible. Everything has to be done in a managed way. The Castlebar and Westport area is the largest industrial zone in the county and for us it was the natural place to start,” said Mr Barry.
While Ballina is actually on the list, other Mayo towns are not so lucky and representatives from those areas also expressed disappointment. Mr Barry offered a ray of hope for Ballinrobe, stating that a re-appraisal of an application from the town’s business community was being looked at and a decision as to whether a further connection would be made would be announced in July.
The four towns of east Mayo – Foxford, Swinford, Kiltimagh and Charlestown – were part of a ‘wider study’ while ‘the numbers did not add up’ for Belmullet’s application.
Cathaoirleach of the Council, Cllr Gerry Coyle, lamented the fact that the nearest town to the Corrib gas field has been left out of the equation.
“It’s a scandal that Belmullet has been left out. This is the town that took all the pain and got none of the gain and the people who supported the gas project from day one feel very let down. I appeal to both the Government and to Shell to right this wrong.”
In relation to bringing the gas ashore to service the Gaswest project, Cllr Harry Walsh – the only member of the Council who is a member of the Pro Gas Movement – said the announcement by Bord Gáis clearly showed the impending benefits for the county.
“The barricading has to stop and the plant has to be built in Bellanaboy, it’s as simple as that. The General Election showed that time is up, those who obstructed this project lost their seats,” said Cllr Walsh.
Work on the actual laying of the pipeline will begin in Castlebar next month, while a start date for Westport has been fixed for September in order to avoid disruption during the busy tourist season.
Cllr Margaret Adams welcomed Westport’s early inclusion, stating that large companies like Allergan Pharmaceuticals and the eleven hotels in the town would be delighted with the availability of natural gas in the town.
