Group plans to push for second multi-million-euro breakwater at Greencastle Pier

The next meeting of Greencastle Harbour Users will take place at 10am this Thursday, August 28, in the Coast Guard Unit.

The meeting comes ahead of a key time for Greencastle Pier, with plans for a second breakwater to further boost the local fishing and marine leisure industries.

The Greencastle Harbour Users Group was originally set up by those using the harbour or doing business within the harbour estate. Its primary function is to lobby for improvements to harbour facilities and infrastructure, and it played an important part in attracting the funding for Phase 1 of the harbour development plan, the breakwater to the south of the pier.

Phase 2 will be a larger project, to build another breakwater, to the north of the harbour entrance, which could accommodate cruise liners and offshore service vessels on the outside, as well as more berthing space on the inside to allow for further development within the greater harbour area.

There are many smaller developments that could be completed within the existing harbour, and the Council has appointed an extra engineer within its harbour staff to bring forward the necessary licences, permits and plans to get them to a “shovel-ready” state for any funding opportunities that arise.

Dredging the harbour is the first priority but it could take up to two years to get dredging and dumping-at-sea licences in place. The Greencastle Harbour Users Group has been liaising with the Council on various issues since the Phase 1 breakwater has been completed and, at a meeting in Lifford in June, it was agreed to put these meetings on a more formal footing.

The group will establish regular meetings of harbour users every two months. These meetings will be attended by operational Council staff from the Piers and Harbours section. The Council now has a permanent harbourmaster and harbour engineer in place, who will attend these meetings along with other Council staff, as appropriate. These meetings should be able to address operational issues in a more timely manner.

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In addition to these local meetings, there will be two formal meetings in Lifford, at six-month intervals. These will be at Director of Services level and will deal with future planning and development issues. Should any strategic issue arise between these six-monthly meetings, then the appropriate Directors have agreed to make themselves available to the harbour users group.

Work has already started to identify the necessary surveys and plans that may be required for future projects, while consultants have been on site looking at the dredging options - and the Harbour Bye-Laws will be coming up for review in September.