A Meeting was held in Castletownbere to discuss the water supply on the Beara Peninsula
Michael Collins TD, Senator Tim Lombard, and Councillors Patrick Gerard Murphy, Caroline Cronin and Danny Collins were among the public representatives who attended a meeting in Castletownbere, to discuss the perceived problem of water supply on the Beara peninsula.
The meeting was organised by Beara Tourism, Castletownbere Development Association and Eyeries Tidy Towns Committee. Holly Cairns TD was represented by Isobel Towse, and Christopher O’Sullivan TD by Danny Crowley.
John Murphy and Jim O’Sullivan of Beara Tourism, who chaired the meeting, outlined how most of the water supply on the Beara peninsula comes from Glenbeg Lake outside Ardgroom.
Glenbeg is over thirty metres deep, and easily meets the needs of the local community. However, Irish Water claims that, in the event of a drought, there may be a reduction in water flowing over the freshwater mussels in the stream below the lake. On that basis, Cork Council will not grant planning permissions in Beara until the issue is resolved.
Local developer Colman O’Sullivan spoke of his frustration at the Council’s delay in granting planning permissions. Others weighed in on how millions of euros worth of housing and commercial projects in Beara are currently stalled, due to Irish Water’s failure to address the issue.
These include a small boat harbour, a sea coral processing unit, and an extension to the BIM fisheries college in Castletownbere, along with numerous other public and private building projects throughout Beara that would all provide employment in the area.
A solution was proposed by John J O’Sullivan, engineer, who stated that the installation of an underwater pipe at Glenbeg would ensure that lake water could be pumped over the freshwater mussels in the event of a drought.
The meeting agreed that this would resolve the issue in a simple, cost-effective and environmentally sensitive manner, ensuring the wellbeing of the freshwater mussels and allowing the Council to resume granting planning permissions.
Cllr Danny Collins stated that, when a similar issue arose at Inniscarra Dam, Irish Water had installed pumps and the matter had been resolved in two weeks.
Dónal Kelly, Chairman of Castletownbere Development Association, expressed his hope that Irish Water would implement John J O’Sullivan’s solution as soon as possible. The issue at Glenbeg, he said, could be resolved just as quickly as that at Inniscarra.
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