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60,000 safety railings
were "hazardous"
22.07.08
Moville loses HEART
in heritage project
MOVILLE'S participation in a 3 million cross-border
heritage project has been marred by anger and
disappointment.
Safety railings erected at a cost of around 60,000
along the town's shore path as part of the HEART
heritage trail had to be removed just weeks later
while new picnic tables arrived in the town already
corroded in part with rust.
HEART stands for Heritage, Environment, Art and
Rural Tourism and is a joint project between
Strabane District Council and Donegal County
Council. |
Moville locals, who
looked forward to the towns facelift, were stunned
when the 'safety' railings erected adjacent to
St.Colmcille's Well, appeared to make the waterside
walkway more hazardous.
Cllr. Marian McDonald who is heavily involved in the
HEART initiative and the local Tidy Towns committee
said she was |
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"deeply disappointed".
"I received a phone call from someone who asked me
to urgently go and look at the way the railings were
being erected," she said. "I was shocked when I saw
what they were like. One of the railings was nearly
in the middle of the walkway and they were being
fixed in place by bolts that were smaller than my
wee finger."
Within days, the heavy railings were unstable,
wobbling and a potential risk of falling onto
passers-by. A number of the railings subsequently
fell onto the rocks below.
It's understood an official from Strabane District
Council travelled to Moville and stopped the work
immediately. The railings, which will stretch around
200 yards, from the well to the bathing boxes, were
removed last Wednesday from the scenic path and are
now in storage in the Council yard in Moville until
further notice.
Attempts to contact the manager of the HEART project
at Strabane District Council were unsuccessful
yesterday. The project is due to be officially
launched in Lifford tomorrow. Meanwhile, Cllr.
McDonald said she was very annoyed at the poor
quality of the blue metal picnic benches that
arrived for installation in Moville partially rusted
despite also costing thousands of euro. A total of
twelve towns and villages in Donegal and Tyrone were
chosen for significant environmental regeneration
under the HEART scheme. The Donegal towns chosen
were Moville, Ardara, Ballybofey/Stranorlar,
Ballyshannon, Lifford, Ramelton and Raphoe. In
Tyrone, the towns and villages involved are Strabane,
Castlederg, Donemana, Newtownstewart, Plumbridge and
Sion Mills. The programme is valued at around
3,000,000, with each participating town and village
receiving an equal share of the funds, or 250,000.
The programme is funded through Interreg, the
International Fund for Ireland, Strabane District
Council, Donegal County Council and the private
sector. It was due for completion in June this year. |
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