Harbour and pier funding welcomed by Ballina councillors

Harbour and pier funding welcomed by Ballina councillors


Ciara Galvin

At the July meeting of the Ballina Municipal District, councillors welcomed funding for harbour and pier improvements in the Ballina area.
The allocation, by the Department of Agriculture and the Marine, under the 2014 Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development project, is in addition to the storm damage funding which was granted earlier in the year.
A fund of €112,500 has been allocated to Mayo County Council to each of four harbours at Newport Quay, Bundorragha (near Leenane), Killala and Ballina harbours, with €90,000 for Killerduff Harbour near Ballycastle.
Mayo County Council Senior Executive Engineer Eddie Munnelly told the meeting that along with the sanctioned funding, Mayo County Council would be putting forward 25 percent of funding towards each of the harbours and piers that received an allocation.
Cllr Michael Lofus (FF) welcomed the investment and praised the work undertaken by Mayo County Council staff. Loftus told the meeting that he has been involved with a local scuba diving club for 35 years and that Mayo was lucky to have a large number of diving areas. He added that 90 to 100 divers from 23 clubs across the country came to Killala recently which brought in the region of €50,000 to the local economy.
Fine Gael councillor John O’Hara also welcomed the funding, adding that he was especially happy that funding had been granted for Ballina Harbour, as it had ‘huge potential’ to develop tourism in the area.
Independent councillor Gerry Ginty said that the former Ballina Town Council worked hard to develop tourism and promote Ballina, adding that the group now representing the Ballina Municipal District would do the same.
Cllr Ginty complimented the work done by Mr Munnelly and council staff and said harbour and pier repairs were not only important for tourism, but also for emergency services.