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Buncrana could lose RNLI
Lifeboat
08.04.08
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LOCAL lifeboat
volunteers have expressed their frustration at the
news that the new Lough Swilly lifeboat - officially named
Minnie and Ernest George Barry at the weekend - could be taken away
if progress is not made very soon to provide a
breakwater in Buncrana.
Speaking at the official naming ceremony for the
boat at the weekend, RNLI Inspector Colin Williams
said that the boat may have to be withdrawn if
proper facilities are not made available. |
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And those comments were
echoed at Saturday’s naming ceremony by the Deputy
Chairman of the RNLI Terence Johnston, who described
the current facilities as akin to having an
ambulance but keeping it in a locked garage.
Speaking to the Inishowen Independent yesterday,
local RNLI volunteer, Joe Joyce, said that at
present the boat was being rendered useless for four
hours a day because for two |
hours before and after
low tide it could not leave its berth.
And he insisted that the ongoing delay in sorting
out the paperwork which would allow the commencement
of work on the breakwater was extremely frustrating.
“It very much seems as if it is paperwork that is
now holding up this process, but seriously how hard
can it be to sign a piece of paper?”
Buncrana Town Councillors meanwhile were told on
Thursday last that Donegal County Council did not
send the necessary documentation to the Department
of Agriculture, the department with responsibility
for the foreshore, until February.
When asked if construction will commence this year,
assistant county manager Liam Kelly replied:
“Hopefully. It’s a matter of the government granting
a foreshore lease to Donegal County Council at a
reasonable price.”
However the delays in resolving the necessary
paperwork are a cause of concern for the local
volunteers who fear that a tragedy could occur on
the Swilly if this is not sorted soon.
“At the minute we can’t get out for four hours every
day, but it would be worse still if this is taken
away from Buncrana because there is nowhere else on
the Swilly we can go. If that happens we’d be
relying on Arranmore and Portrush and that could
mean a wait of hours before they get here,” the
local spokesman concluded. |
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