The beginning of the Purteen ice age

ICE IDEA Achill fisherman, Gerry Hassett, icing fish in the newly built Purteen Harbour Cold Stores in Achill.

Anton McNulty

Since the halcyon days of the shark fishing industry ended in the 1960s, Purteen Harbour on Achill Island has been in steady decline, but locals hope a new €25,000 development will transform its fortunes.
The new state-of-the-art Purteen Harbour Cold Stores, which consists of a commercial ice-making machine and freezer unit, will be officially opened at the annual Purteen Harbour Festival this Saturday, July 22.
The ice machine is capable of producing 350kg of ice over a 24-hour period, and Gerry Hassett of the Purteen Harbour Fisherman’s Group believes it will be invaluable to the future of fishing in the community.

Rich rewards
“Before this there was no facility to store fish or keep fish in tip-top condition,” Gerry told The Mayo News. “Before this there was nowhere to get ice. The nearest place was in Galway. If you go out fishing with no ice in warm temperatures, the fish start to go off after a couple of hours – but when you have ice you are able to cool them straight away.
“The sooner you are able to cool down the fish the longer their shelf life will be when they come in. At the end of a day’s fishing, it could be worth anything up to €300 extra for the fisherman. That is invaluable to a community like Achill,” he explained.
The new development got off the ground thanks to the success of the annual Purteen Harbour Festival, which attracts up to 1,000 people every year, and the erection of the history boards at the harbour.
“The past is giving us the funding for the future,” Gerry explained. “It started with the history boards, which outlined the shark- and salmon-fishing history of the area. They were a massive attraction, with people coming down to read them. Each year more and more people were coming to the festival, and we collect donations on the day.
“Martin [Kane], Kieran [Connaghan] and myself put money from the donations aside with this in mind, so when we were looking to do something in the future, we would not be starting with nothing.”

Meitheal spirit
The group also received generous contributions from the commercial fishermen and Purteen Harbour users, and soon they had money to renovate one of the old sheds at the harbour to store the large refrigeration units. When local people became aware of the project, Gerry said it brought the community together and local people wanted to help.
“Not a single penny was spent on labour,” Gerry revealed. “All the work was totally voluntary with local people sponsoring their time and the local tradespeople coming together to give a hand. If we needed equipment such as a dumper or mini-digger there was no problem getting people to donate their equipment.
Purteen Harbour has been in use since 1895 but is badly in need of renovation, but despite plans to upgrade the facility, the necessary State funding has not been made available. While this development is small in nature, Gerry believes it is a good start.
“It is the first bit of regeneration that has happened here since the 1960s. Nothing like this has happened since the shark fishing stopped and it was all brought by local inititive, nobody gave us any ideas. It has made a difference already. It brought all the fishermen together; everyone is involved.”
The group received 60 percent funding for the refrigeration equipment from the Fisheries Local Action Group programme which seeks to encourage communities involved in the fishery sectors to ‘become drivers of sustainable development of their areas’.
As well as the local labour involved in the project, the refrigeration units were supplied and fitted by Achill-based refrigeration company, A-Chill Refrigeration.
Shower heads will also be installed at the facility for divers, and the ice will be available to the public.
The official opening of Purteen Harbour Cold Stores will take place this Saturday, July 22, at 4.30pm. It will be followed by a blessing of the fleet. The Purteen Harbour Festival starts at 1pm with a host of maritime attractions on view.