Ferry skipper fined €500 for caravan offence on Gola Island

A ferry skipper, who brings passengers in and out of Gola has been fined €500 and ordered to pay costs of €1,500 to Donegal County Council for failing to remove a caravan from Gola Island, after he was served an Enforcement Notice in 2018. 

Michael “Sabba” Curran, c/o Gola  Ferry Service, Bunbeg pleaded guilty to a charge that on June 17, 2020 as a person on whom an Enforcement Notice was served in August 2018 over an unauthorised development in Gola Island which was extended to August 2019, did not take the required steps to remove the caravan. 

Defence Solicitor Deirdre Gallagher told Dungloe Court that the defendant was the skipper on a boat that takes people in and out of Gola Island and he also helps the County Council with waste management on the island. 

He needed a base and that was why the mobile home was there. 

Gola was very busy in the summer months, and he had done his best. 

The defendant had bought a site on the island, but applying for retention was difficult and there were a lot of complications. 

Judge Alan Mitchell said this was a planning breach in that the defendant had a mobile home where it should not be. 

Ms Gallagher said he had a reason for this and had a connection to the island. 

But he was going to remove the mobile home. 

The defendant said he had bought property on the island and was hoping for an extension until the house was built and he needed a base. 

Judge Mitchell said this was a matter for the Council. 

Council solicitor Kevin McElhinney said the matter had been going on for a long time and the Council were seeking costs of €2,578. 

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Mr McElhinney said these were “suggestive costs”. 

This figure was reduced to €1,500 by the court. 

Mr Curran said he took waste off the island for the council and did not charge them and offered them a plot of land free to build on, but they turned it down. 

In addition to the fine and costs, Judge Mitchell issued a destruction order for the mobile home. 

He gave the defendant six months to remove the caravan. 

If that did not happen by September, the Council could remove it and “you would be liable for further costs”. 

Mr McElhinney said the reason for the costs before the court was because the matter had gone on for so long. 

Judge Mitchell told the defendant that “maybe it was time you charged the council for the services you are providing for them”.