Walkway to controversial Ballina jetty to be removed by Mayo County Council

THE walkway to a jetty by the River Moy described is to be removed in the coming weeks.

Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald Loftus, Coroner for Mayo, has previously raised concerns about the jetty, which is located on Bachelor’s Walk in Ballina. Her husband, Cllr Michael Loftus (Fianna Fáil), submitted a notice of motion to Ballina Municipal District Council echoing calls for its removal.

Raising the issue at the monthly meeting of the municipal district, Cllr Loftus was told that the council were committed to removing the walkway in the coming weeks.

The Crossmolina-based representative acknowledged that the cost of removing the jetty would be ‘substantial’ and said he would like to see the walkway ‘pulled back’ so it could be used when the jetty was needed.

“I feel if the jetty is left and the walkway is taken away, it will stop the use of that jetty,” said Cllr Loftus.

Declan Turnbull, Head of Ballina Municipal District, said the council were committed to removing the walkway within ‘a number of weeks’.

In recent times, a number of people have died after entering the water near the jetty. This prompted Dr Fitzgerald Loftus to outline her concerns in writing to, Mayo County Council Chief Executive, Kevin Kelly, last summer.

Speaking after an inquest into the death of a man who died after entering the water near the jetty, she called for a ‘protection, or barrier or removal of the jetty altogether’.