*Photograph: John Mangan
THREE issues need to be dealt with at Mountshannon Harbour according to local representative, Cllr Pat Burke (FG).
Unsightly and abandoned boats, swan signs and illegal dumping are the areas the local authority needs to get to grips with at Mountshannon Harbour, Cllr Burke maintained. He said the ‘do not feed swans signs’ “are no longer required” and illegal dumping remained problematic at the bottle bank.
Senior executive engineer with the Killaloe Municipal District, Declan Flanagan acknowledged there is a vessel which needs repairing and contact has been made with the owner on this. He noted that some of the vessels are registered with Waterways Ireland, “Killaloe Municipal District will continue to work with Waterways Ireland, local stakeholders, and local representatives in obtaining information on the existing boats at Mountshannon Harbour”.
Remaining vessels were inspected on site on January 15th and “appear in good order,” he reported. Swan signage has been removed, Flanagan confirmed.
An examination of the bottle banks took place on January 11th with no illegal dumping found, Flanagan stated. “Clare County Council’s Environment Section monitor all 52 Bring Banks on a weekly basis and in general they are well maintained with few incidents of dumping noted. The Environment department have used social media to advise the public that if a bottle bank is full, to use an alternative location. However, we do note that dumping persists”.
Pleased with the majority of the Council’s reply, Cllr Burke felt more action was needed when it came to abandoned boats. “There’s a lot of unsightly stuff there. In dealing with this with Waterways Ireland. If I took my boat out of a shed today and dropped it down to harbour beside me, within a few days Waterways Ireland will contact me to move it, so the council, with all the great work that you’re doing, I’d like to see maybe more action here”.
Whitegate native Burke continued, “Mountshannon isn’t alone in this, there are other public harbours around Lough Derg with similar issues, but overall, I welcome the reply and that the Environment Section are keeping the bottle banks under constant review”.
Feedback from the public on swans having a negative impact on the bathing waters at the Blue Flag Beach was brought to his attention, he advised the meeting.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) flagged that bottle banks pose a similar problem in Killaloe. “We have the same problem down in Killaloe where there is dumping by the side of the bins and bottle banks on the side of the street. This is not going to stop unless we address this issue”, O’Brien outlined.
