Cork Harbour | Dominick Donnelly

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Cllr. Donnelly welcomes progress on Swansea Cork ferry

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

19^th March 2009

In advance of a delegation from Finland arriving in Cork on Friday to discuss the sale of the ship Julia to the Swansea Cork ferry co-operative, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, the Green Party candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council said: “It is wonderful news that a delegation are coming from Finland to discuss the sale of this ship, and we hope these negotiations are successful. As an investor in the co-operative set up to reinstate this essential ferry service, may I congratulate the efforts of all those involved, as the €3 million target has just about been reached. I would encourage anyone who has not yet invested in this initiative to do so, if they are in a position to do so.”

We must all support Cork City and Harbour’s application to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, says Cllr. Donnelly

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

16^th March 2009

Following the submission earlier this year to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for Cork City and Harbour to be considered for designation as a World Heritage Site, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, the Green Party candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council said: “We now need to start building some momentum in support of this application. To this end I will be tabling a motion at Passage West Town Council at next month’s meeting, which will also be tabled at Cobh Town Council, and hopefully also at Cork City and County Councils. It is important that all relevant organisations in the city and harbour area inform themselves of this application, and support it in whatever way they can.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued: “The designation of Cork City and Harbour as a UNESCO World Heritage Site would help the region achieve the global renown it should have. The story of Cork City and Harbour is of global significance, as a provisioning port, and a point of departure for the Irish diaspora whether for emigration or deportation to penal colonies, and as a significant naval base. Much of the infrastructure that supported this history is still in place, with the naval base at Haulbowline, Spike Island, the harbour forts, and all the commercial infrastructure in the city, such as the Port of Cork buildings and the Butter Market. Meitheal Mara and the Cork Harbour Forum are to be commended for initiating this process, and we must all now work together to ensure this application proceeds.”

Green Party motion aims to make incinerators non-viable

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

9^th March 2009

At its annual convention over the weekend, the Green Party / Comhaontas Glas passed a motion, calling on the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, to sign a ministerial order to reinstate the proximity principle for waste management. The reinstatement of the proximity principle would mean that waste for disposal, incineration or landfill, would not be able to be transferred between any of Ireland’s eight waste regions. In other words all waste for disposal would have to be dealt with within each region. The proximity principle was removed a number of years ago by a ministerial order signed by Dick Roche during his time as Minister for the Environment.

The motion, which was put forward by the Cork East Greens, was proposed by the Green Party candidate for the Midleton electoral area of Cork County Council and Midleton Town Council, Malachy Harty. Commenting on the motion, Mr. Harty said: “This motion is very important in that it helps to make the proposed incinerators in Ringaskiddy non-viable as they would only be able to take waste from the Cork waste region, and not bring it in from anywhere else in the country. I am delighted that the members of the Green Party supported this motion at the annual convention by more than a two thirds majority. This mandates our party leader, the Minister for the Environment John Gormley, to put the ministerial order in place.”

At the convention the motion was also supported by Cllr. Dominick Donnelly, the Green Party candidate for the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council. Cllr. Donnelly commented: “I am confident that our party leader will act on this motion very shortly, and this will put a further nail in the coffin for Indaver’s plans to build two incinerators in Ringaskiddy, which are currently before An Bord Pleanála. For those of us who have been fighting Indaver for the past eight years on this issue, this is great news, and gives us hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Full text of motion:

East Cork Greens propose that the Minister for the Environment should reinstate the proximity principal for residual waste disposal. The proximity principal will require that waste being burned at an incinerator must be sourced within the same county or region that it’s created in. This would dramatically reduce the viability of incineration as a waste disposal method.

East Cork has a rich tourism and agricultural tradition. The area continues to shine in both sectors and has wonderful potential for creating increased value and employment into the future. The area is becoming recognised for its store of good food and culinary mastery. A prominent incinerator on the harbour shores will be detrimental to these sectors.

With good reason, there is a strong fear in Cobh, Midleton and East Cork generally that the proposed incinerator at Ringaskiddy will present a high risk of pollution. These towns lie directly downwind of the proposed incinerator site so that public health, agriculture and tourism will be subject to emissions in the long term. There are also risks from accidents, which happen more frequently that we are asked to believe.

East Cork Greens propose that the Minister for the Environment should reinstate the proximity principal for residual waste disposal. This would apply to waste for landfill or incineration. It would not apply to recyclable or compostable streams. This is something that the Minister for the Environment can do which will make any large scale incinerator in the country unviable, or certainly dramatically reduce its viability. The proximity principal will require that waste being burned at an incinerator must be sourced within the same county or waste region.

The Green Party should promote waste minimisation, recycling and composting, locally. These are growth industries and are ‘Towards a Green New Deal’. Incineration is not.

Reduction in timetable for Cross River Ferry bad for harbour communities, says Cllr. Donnelly

Published April 15, 2009 Cork Harbour , Marine , Monkstown , Passage West , Transport Leave a Comment

5^th March 2009

Following the introduction of a reduced timetable on the Cross River Ferry between Glenbrook and Carrigaloe earlier this week, Green Party candidate for the Carrigaline area of Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly said: “This reduction in the timetable of the Cross River Ferry is disastrous for the communities around the harbour. The Cross River Ferry is a vital piece of local infrastructure which joins the communities on both sides of the harbour, and helps them work together. The fact that the last ferry now runs at about 10 pm, whereas previously the last ferry went at about midnight, will cause all sorts of problems for a large number of people and organisations around the harbour. The alternative to using the ferry to get across the lower harbour is a round trip via the Jack Lynch Tunnel of over ten miles. I call on the owners of the Cross River Ferry to reverse this decision to reduce the timetable.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued: “This reduced service will make it very difficult for people living on one side of the harbour to participate in evening social events on the other side of the harbour. It will also make it very difficult for organisations with representation from both sides of the harbour to hold evening meetings. I am involved in two such organisations, the Cork Harbour Environmental Protection Association (CHEPA) and Cork Harbour for A Safe Environment (CHASE), and having to have all meetings finished in time for people to get the last ferry at 10 pm will prove difficult, if not impossible. This does not auger well for cross harbour cohesion, which has been a growing strength in the harbour. This decision simply must be reversed.”

Swansea Cork Ferry is an essential piece of local infrastructure, says Cllr. Donnelly

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

2^nd March 2009

We must all work together to reinstate the service

Commenting on the ongoing campaign to raise €3.5 million to restart the Cork Swansea ferry service, Green Party candidate for Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council in the local elections, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly said: “It is vital that we get this service up and running again. The co-operative that has been put together is to be applauded for all the work they have done to date, and people in the region must dig deep to ensure that they reach their target by the end of this week. I have invested myself, and I urge others to do likewise.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued: “With the vast majority of the world airlines not in profit, there is going to be an inevitable decline in air travel over the years and decades to come, with many airlines going out of business, and air fares will inevitably get more and more expensive. Ferry companies have had a tough time competing with cheap air fares over the past number of years, but it will become easier over the next few years. As an island nation on the edge of Europe, we must have adequate connectivity with our European neighbours, and this ferry service to the UK is an essential part of local infrastructure for Cork and for the whole of Munster. If we are to have a viable tourism industry in the region, this is an essential part of the jigsaw.”

“I am not a wealthy man, but this service is so vital that I thought it important to invest. I hope that everyone who is in a financial position to invest will at least consider investing by the end of this week, if they haven’t done so already.” Cllr. Donnelly concluded.

Cllr. Donnelly welcomes An Bord Pleanála’s decision on Dublin incinerator

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

16^th February 2009

Hopefully the same arguments will be used in the Ringaskiddy incinerator case

Commenting on the recent decision by An Bord Pleanála to reject planning permission for an incinerator in Rathcoole in Co. Dublin, Green Party candidate for Cork County Council and Passage West Town Council in the local elections, Cllr. Dominick Donnelly said: “I welcome the decision by An Bord Pleanála to reject planning permission for the Rathcoole incinerator, and I hope that this is an indication that there has been a change in the mindset in the board. The two Ringaskiddy incinerators are before the board for decision at the moment, and this recent decision gives cause for optimism that they will reject the Ringaskiddy incinerators also.”

Cllr. Donnelly continued: “The most interesting aspect of this decision is that all three reasons given by the board for the rejection all apply equally to Ringaskiddy. First of all the incinerator is not part of the local authority’s waste management plan, and this was made clear in Cork County Council’s own report on this proposal. The second reason the board rejected the incinerator in Rathcoole was to do with traffic on the N7, adjacent to the proposed site. With the Port of Cork already having been refused planning in Ringaskiddy due to lack of capacity on the N28 and in the Jack Lynch Tunnel, hopefully An Bord Pleanála will use the same argument to reject Indaver. The third reason for the board’s rejection was that the proposal wanted to build the incinerator in a quarry, and that because of this the board were not convinced that the emissions from the incinerator would not pose a threat to the surrounding population. With Cork Harbour being effectively a basin, and it being prone to thermal inversions (localised fog) in which the emissions would remain locally, this argument applies equally to Ringaskiddy. There have been about three thermal inversions in Cork Harbour in the last week alone, which, if the incinerators were in operation, would have caused the harbour communities to be polluted with their emissions.”

“I hope that this is the beginning of the end for Indaver’s ridiculous plans to build two incinerators in Cork Harbour. It has been a long hard battle for the harbour communities, particularly those of us directly involved with CHASE, but there are signs that all the toil and perseverance has been worthwhile to preserve Cork Harbour as a wonderful place to live” Cllr. Donnelly concluded.

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