‘We want a fair crack at the whip’ claim Mayo islanders

Summer stars have certainly been in the sky over Clare Island for the last few weeks. The glorious weather has seen hundreds of holiday makers sail over to the island to enjoy the good weather and lovely food and wave all their cares good-bye at Roonagh, as the Saw Doctors might say.

However, for Clare Islanders, the pier is a major concern and source of a great deal of their cares and they are desperate for Roonagh pier to be urgently developed.

Clare Islander, Ian McCabe, moved home with his family and knows first hand the reality of children commuting to the mainland in the winter.

“It’s not even about if the boat is able to sail. It’s like, are you willing to put your child at risk, for a commute in dodgy weather?” he told The Mayo News.

“The sea crossing is one thing the boats generally tend to be able to handle. That, no problem. But it’s the landing. It’s the landing where the real danger zone is.”

The Minister for Rural Community Development, Dara Calleary, recently visited the island and met with the local pier committee.

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A spokesperson told the Mayo News that the Minister and Mayo TD is “engaging and working closely with Mayo County Council on this and the Minister will work to secure substantial investment in Roonagh Pier during the lifetime of the Government.”

Mayo County Council is the public body responsible for maintaining and developing Roonagh Pier.

Despite repeated queries from The Mayo News over a number of weeks, Mayo County Council has not responded to questions about Roonagh Pier.

An inspection of eTenders by this newspaper has identified a €142,000 tender awarded in April to RPS Group Limited to “prepare a Preliminary Business Case, incorporating a Strategic Assessment, for Marine Infrastructure Improvement Options at Roonagh Pier.”

‘Ambitious Development’ would have cost €30m in 2022

A Strategic Development Plan by Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions (GDG) was commissioned by Mayo County Council in 2022.

The 52-report outlines three options for the development of Roonagh Pier. The minimum development option had estimated costs in 2022 of between €750,000 to €1.4 million.

The “medium ambition development” option had estimated costs in 2022 of between €23m-€25m.

The “ambitious development” plan had estimated costs in 2022 of between €28m-€30m.

The inflation in building costs in the intervening period would no doubt mean that these figures would be well below estimated costs today.

There is currently no public timeline as to when the newly commissioned Preliminary Business Case will be completed and actioned.

‘Death Trap’

For Carl O’Grady, the landing spot for locals is a death trap. He is not alone in fearing a tragedy at the pier.

His family and the O’Malley family both operate ferries to and from Clare Island.

Carl O'Grady at Roonagh Pier 

Charles O’Malley shares the safety concerns and he notes the better facilities for other inhabited islands around Ireland.

The lack of roll-on roll-off facilities at the pier was clear to see when The Mayo News visited on a Friday morning in July.

The on-pier crane had to be used to hoist a van onto the ferry, despite the ship having ramps that would allow vehicles to drive on and off them.

“The infrastructure we’re dealing with is very basic. It’s infrastructure from the 1950s and badly needs to be upgraded”, Brian O’Grady, tells The Mayo News, speaking from the helm of the ‘Pirate Queen’ ferry.

A draft feasibility study, commissioned by Mayo County Council in 2022, states that “the heavy swells which Roonagh Pier is subject to during winter months renders the pier unserviceable for circa one third of the year. In this instance the ferry is either rerouted, or the service does not run at all.”

“Consequences of the cancelled or rerouted ferry service for island inhabitants include; Missed medical appointments, impacts on children travelling to the mainland for education, Islanders stranded on the mainland having to stay with family or in bed and breakfast/hotel establishments, Impacted postal services, availability of certain groceries impacted and services (utility repair etc) impacted.”

‘Are you willing to put your child at risk?’

Ian McCabe’s son has been commuting to the mainland five days a week for the last two years.

Ian says that as a parent, there are some days when you question whether they should have stopped him travelling to school.

“Where a ferry is touch and go, people have to jump off as the boat is pulling from the pier, with the swells coming through. The ferry guys, it’s their day to day. They’d be used, used to a certain extent, but it’s not really an acceptable risk any more for people to be taking.

“There’s too much uncertainty. Too much kind of last minute hopping and figuring it out. You need to be able to plan. You need certainty in your life, in your day, in your week. You can’t live normally.”

The long term viability of the community on the island is also in focus as a growing trend has emerged of families moving onto the mainland for the winter.

Carl O’Grady notes that the number of students in the primary school on the island was down to eight pupils last year. When he was a child, there were 24 in the school.

‘Invest to create opportunities’

On board the pirate queen, skipper Kate O’Grady is the latest generation to enable islanders to stay connected to the mainland.

Her father Brian points to the pier in Clare Island and explains the lifeline that the salmon farm has been:

“Clare Island, of all the islands on the West Coast, has probably the largest working fleet between fish farm boats, fishing boats and ferries and cargo vessels. You come in here in the evening time, there’s maybe 12 boats anchored up here. They’re all working boats. But we have to stay out anchored, because our pier is in the Atlantic swell, we cannot tie alongside it. We don’t have the facilities for roll on, roll off. We have to work around the tides.”

His brother Carl would love to see wind energy harnessed, with Roonagh being developed into a harbour capable of serving the industry.

“We don’t want anything for nothing from anybody. We want a fair crack at the whip. And we want the government to use their head to invest in opportunity, not fix a problem.”

“In Ireland, we have no concept of the sea. We need to invest boldly and big enough to give the likes of Clare Island and all the other operators on all the other islands, give them their harbours and then set up these marine services for wind turbines and for energy generating buoys.”