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Cllr. Donnelly welcomes the Government’s setting up of an Inter-Departmental Marine Co-ordinating Group

Published May 2, 2009 Cork Harbour , Cork Swansea Ferry , Economy , Marine , Ringaskiddy , Transport Leave a Comment

2nd May 2009

The Green Party’s candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council and for Passage West Town Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, has welcomed the announcement by the Minister of State with special responsibility for forestry, fisheries and the marine, Tony Killeen, that the Government has set up a high-level Inter-Departmental Marine Co-ordinating Group.

“As a public representative alongside the second largest natural harbour in the world, Cork Harbour, I welcome this initiative from the Government. It shows that the Government are taking maritime matters seriously. As an island nation, we have not always given maritime matters the attention we should have, but the sea is one of our greatest assets, and we are completely dependent on shipping for a huge proportion of our international trade,” Cllr. Donnelly said.

“With the twin problems of climate change and peak oil signalling the inevitable demise of air travel over the next couple of decades, we will once again have to look more to the sea for most, if not all, of our international trade and travel. Also much or our energy will be coming from the sea in the near future, with the technology for both wave and tidal power developing apace, as well as off-shore wind power. In Cork Harbour we have the prospect of the Marine and Energy Research Cluster (MERC) developing in Ringaskiddy, alongside the National Maritime College of Ireland, as well as the resumption of a ferry service between Cork and Swansea during the summer (Fastnet Line). Maritime matters will be even more central to our economic wellbeing in the future, and it is important that the Government take maritime issues seriously now to plan for that future,” Cllr. Donnelly concluded.

Cork County Council must check out the ownership of Gobby Beach car park in Ringaskiddy, says Cllr. Donnelly

Published April 29, 2009 Amenity , Cork Harbour , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

29th April 2009 

The car park at Gobby Beach in Ringaskiddy has been put on the market by the liquidator for Irish Ispat, through auctioneers Lisney at their Cork office.  Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, the Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council for the Douglas area, has asked Cork County Council to check out the ownership of this car park, as local residents always thought it belonged to the county council, and the county council have maintained the car park, and have put bottle banks on it.

 

Cllr. Donnelly said:  “I have asked Declan Daly, the Divisional Manager for the South Cork area, to check into the ownership of this car park.  The local understanding is that this car park is already owned by Cork County Council, but it has recently been put up for sale by the liquidator of Irish Ispat through Lisney’s auctioneers.  If it transpires that Cork County Council do not own the car park, then I urge them to acquire it as an essential piece of local infrastructure.”

 

“It is essential that this car park stays in public ownership, as it is well used by the general public, and is the only access to Gobby Beach, one of very few beaches in Cork Harbour.  The auctioneer has informed me that a sale of this car park was negotiated with the Office of Public Works a few years ago, but it did not proceed.  Really the only logical owner for this car park is the local authority, and they must investigate this as a matter of urgency,”  continued Cllr. Donnelly.

 

Additional Information:  The Gobby Beach car park is at the end of the Ringaskiddy peninsula, near the bridge to Haulbowline and adjacent to Indaver’s site, where they are currently applying to build two incinerators.

New format for incinerator oral hearing is fairer for the community, says Cllr. Donnelly

Published April 28, 2009 Cork Harbour , Environment , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

27th April 2009

At the oral hearing for the Ringaskiddy incinerators which started today, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council for the Carrigaline electoral area, was pleased that the Bord Plenála inspector changed her mind, and went for a fairer format for the community.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “The format originally proposed by the inspector was completely unfair to the community, as the applicant Indaver would have been able to present new material on a particular module, and the community would have had to respond immediately, without being able to consult the experts in that area.  At least now the applicant has to present all their material first, over the next number of days, and the community will have time to consider the material and respond accordingly, seeking specialist expertise where necessary.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued:  “It is still unfair that the applicant is being allowed present substantial new material at the hearing.  This puts the community at a disadvantage, as there will be little time to analyse the new material and formulate the response.  This hearing is going to take a herculean effort from the harbour communities over the next number of weeks.”

Dominick’s written submission to An Bord Pleanala on Ringaskiddy incinerators

Published April 27, 2009 Cork Harbour , Energy , Environment , Heritage , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

https://dominickdonnelly.com/links/written-submission-to-an-bord-pleanala-on-ringaskiddy-incinerators/

Cllr. Donnelly is confident incinerators will not get planning permission

Published April 27, 2009 Cork Harbour , Energy , Environment , Incineration , Ringaskiddy Leave a Comment

26th April 2009

The oral hearing for the Ringaskiddy incinerators starts on Monday 27th April, and will proceed for about three weeks.  Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council for the Carrigaline electoral area, who has been part of the steering committee of CHASE (Cork Harbour Area for a Safe Environment) for the past eight years, is confident that finally the threat of the incinerators in Cork Harbour will be refused at this oral hearing.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “At the last An Bord Pleanála oral hearing into the Ringaskiddy incinerators over five years ago, the only reason planning permission was granted was on the grounds that incineration was part of Government policy at the time.  That is clearly not the case any more.  The Minister for the Environment John Gormley has made a number of statements to that effect, in advance of the complete review of waste management policy due later this year.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued:  “A number of other things are different this time, which should make it impossible for Indaver to get planning permission.  An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for an incinerator in Rathcoole in Co. Dublin, on grounds which can largely be replicated in Ringaskiddy.  Also the board refused the Port of Cork planning permission in Ringaskiddy last year for their container terminal on transport grounds, which would also apply to the incinerators, albeit to a lesser extent.  Also the Department of the Environment have put in a very strongly worded submission on this application, in which they show that Indaver have basically ignored the fact that their proposed incinerators are in very close proximity to Special Areas of Conservation in Cork Harbour, such as Monkstown Creek and Loughbeg.  All of this adds up to it hopefully being inevitable this will be the end of the road for the threat of incineration in Cork Harbour.”

Minister Gormley taken on boat tour of Cork Harbour, to see the wonderful assets and history of the harbour

Published April 23, 2009 Cork Harbour , Environment , Heritage , Marine Leave a Comment

23rd April 2009

Minister John Gormley with Cork Green Party candidates, before going on boat trip of Cork Harbour

Minister John Gormley with Cork Green Party candidates, before going on boat trip of Cork Harbour

L to R: Mick Murphy, Stephen Crowley, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Mary Ryder and Minister John Gormley.

As part of his trip to Cork today, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley was taken on a boat trip around Cork Harbour by Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council for the Carrigaline electoral area. The purpose of the trip was to show the minister at first hand the wonderful assets of the harbour, and how this all links in to the history of Cork City and Harbour, as there is an application before his department to have Cork City and Harbour considered as suitable for promotion to UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The Minister was also accompanied on the boat trip by representatives of both Meitheal Mara and the Coastal and Maritime Research Centre of UCC, who jointly submitted the application, as well as Cllr. Marcia D’Alton of Passage West Town Council.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “It was a great opportunity to take the minister on this short boat tour of Cork Harbour, and we thank him for giving us of his valuable time. The main purpose of the trip was to impress upon the minister the rich and varied history of both Cork City and Cork Harbour, and to demonstrate to him how the two are completely intertwined. While we fully recognise that achieving World Heritage Status for Cork City and Harbour is a long term project that will take a number of years to come to fruition, we hope that today’s trip will help to start that ball rolling. The benefits of achieving such status would be many, and when you see the sort of locations which have achieved World Heritage Status around the world, it is clear that Cork City and Harbour fully deserve to be added to that list.”

Minister Ryan visits DePuy in Ringaskiddy to see their energy initiatives

Published April 21, 2009 Cork Harbour , Economy , Energy , Ringaskiddy 1 Comment
Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Minister Eamon Ryan and Senator Dan Boyle with senior managment at DePuy, Ringaskiddy

Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Minister Eamon Ryan and Senator Dan Boyle with senior managment at DePuy, Ringaskiddy

During his visit to Cork on Friday 17th April, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, visited the DePuy plant in Loughbeg, Ringaskiddy, to see their energy inititiatives first hand.  The picture above shows, from left to right, John Lynch (Plant Manager DePuy), James Winters (Engineering Manager DePuy), Dan Donovan (Technical Services Team Leader DePuy), Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Minister Eamon Ryan, Senator Dan Boyle and the Cork hurler Donal Og Cusack, who is leading DePuy’s energy initiative.  In the background is the test mast which DePuy are currently using to get test readings in advance of submitting a planning application for a wind turbine.

As part of the visit, Minister Ryan was given an excellent presentation by Donal Og Cusack, as the leader of DePuy’s energy initiative, and Plant Manager John Lynch, in which they outlined the very serious way in which DePuy are taking energy issues.  For many years DePuy have been reducing their energy needs while increasing their output, and this has led them to very substantial financial savings.  Donal Og Cusack described how DePuy has trained its employees to take energy issues as seriously as they take safety issues.  He also described how over half of the electricity they buy is from renewable sources, and how they are looking at different ways of generating their own electricity on site.  As a start on this, DePuy have come together with four other large plants in Ringaskiddy, and the five companies will be submitting planning applications later in the year to install wind turbines on the Ringaskiddy peninsula.  DePuy are also installing a woodchip boiler, which will be up and running later this year.  They are also exploring the potential of such technologies as geothermal and wave power.

Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council, who accompanied Minister Ryan on his visit, said:  “It is wonderful to see a company such as DePuy is taking energy issues so seriously.  DePuy continue to grow their business, and are currently employing about 700 people, with an extension currently under construction.  DePuy are a model to other businesses as to how taking energy issues seriously leads to substantial savings on the company’s bottom line.”

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes the support of Passage West Town Council for his motion on world heritage status for Cork

Published April 17, 2009 Cork Harbour , Environment , Heritage Leave a Comment

17th April 2009

At last night’s meeting of Passage West Town Council, a motion calling for the town council to support the application for Cork City and Harbour to be put forward for UNESCO World Heritage Site status was unanimously supported.  The motion was proposed by Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, the Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for Cork County Council.

 

Cllr. Donnelly said:  “I welcome the support my fellow councillors have given to my motion, and I hope that similar motions which are to be put before the City and County Councils, as well as Cobh Town Council, will all be unanimously supported also.  Achieving UNESCO World Heritage Site status is a worthy aim, and would be a huge boost to the area in terms of tourism and cultural activity.  There is a long way to go in the process yet, but all forms of support for the process are welcome.”

 

 

Full text of motion:  “Passage West Town Council fully endorses the application currently before the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to have Cork City and Harbour put forward for consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

 

 

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes imminent return of ferry service between Cork and Swansea

Published April 15, 2009 Cork Harbour , Cork Swansea Ferry , Economy , Marine , Transport Leave a Comment

9th April 2009

Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly has welcomed the return of a ferry service between Cork and Swansea later in the year.

Cllr. Donnelly, who is an investor in the new co-operative set up to get the service going again, said: “This is wonderful news for the whole Cork region, and is a great example of people power at work.  Everyone who came together and made this campaign a success is to be congratulated.  I look forward to travelling with the Fastnetline, as the new company is now called, later in the year.”

“In years to come I am sure this ferry service will prove to be an essential part of the infrastructure for the Cork region, and beyond into the rest of Munster.  With the airline industry heading in to an inevitable long term decline due the shortage and increasing price of aviation fuel, as well as serious concerns about its effect on global warming, there will be a substantial increase in the use of ferries for international travel in the years ahead.  Cork, and the business and tourism sectors of the region, are now poised to reap the benefits of the reinstatement of this ferry service to the UK,” continued Cllr. Donnelly. 

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes announcement of oral hearing for Ringaskiddy incinerators

Published April 15, 2009 Cork Harbour , Environment , Incineration Leave a Comment

27th March 2009

Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, the Green Party member of Passage West Town Council and candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council, has welcomed the announcement from An Bord Pleanála that they will conduct an oral hearing into the application by Indaver Ireland to build two incinerators (one for municipal waste and one for toxic waste), starting on the 27th April at the Cork Airport Hotel.

Cllr. Donnelly said: “For those of us who have been fighting these incinerators for the past eight years, the announcement of this oral hearing is welcome news, as I am confident that this oral hearing will kill off Indaver’s ridiculous and dangerous proposals, once and for all.  The communities around the lower harbour have developed huge expertise in fighting planning applications such as this, and I am confident that by presenting a united front in opposition to this proposal, it will finally be defeated this time.”

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Photos of Dominick

Dominick Donnelly and Dan Boyle unveiling Dominick's anti-incineration poster at Shannonpark roundabout, CarrigalineDominick's anti-incineration posterDominick with his three sons, Theo, Noah and TateDominick with Green Party Deputy Leader Mary White in Douglas Court SCCork South Central Local Election candidates with Mary White in Douglas Court SC
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