A VIP passenger will be onboard LÉ Niamh when she departs her base next week for a three-month migrant rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea, writes Sean O’Riordan of the Irish Examiner.

A VIP passenger will be onboard LÉ Niamh when she departs her base next week for a three-month migrant rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea.

WHEN the extent and the virulent toxicity of the dump used for industrial waste at the former Irish Steel mill in Cork Harbour were first realised more than a decade ago, alarm bells rang loudly and for some considerable time. 

Some €2.6m should not have been paid to two directors of a company sub-contracted to carry out part of a €30m clean-up of the former Irish Steel site in Haulbowline, Cork, it has been claimed in the High Court.

The largest local authority in the country has unveiled a three-year €517.6m plan for spending on housing, roads, and other capital projects.

The Government has committed to spending €61m on turning part of Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour into a public park, despite a report commissioned by the Office of Public Works (OPW), which concluded it was an unsuitable location for use as a public amenity.

A senior government official has warned that the €61m budget announced for the clean-up of the former Irish Steel plant on Haulbowline in Cork Harbour will not be enough to complete plans to transform the site into a major public recreation amenity.

A total of 4,807 hopefuls applied for 75 officer cadet vacancies in the Defence Forces — an average of 64 for every post.

Plans for a major clean-up of the former Irish Steel site on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour could be delayed after the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform raised concerns about the scale of expenditure on the project.

Residents of Cork’s lower harbour have “no faith” in Indaver to ensure a proposed incinerator would be safe in the event of an explosion or fire.

The taxpayer will have to foot the near €0.5m bill for removing potentially-lethal asbestos from Naval Service ships, but the final cost could be far higher.

Irish Naval vessel the LÉ Eithne is expected to dock in a port in Italy today with the 399 people saved from the Mediterranean in its latest rescue operation in the area.

The naval service is to use drones in the fight against international drug smugglers and illegal fishing, with the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also to help with search and rescue missions.

Contracts worth almost €2m have been signed to upgrade the Haulbowline Island bridges to facilitate the multi-million clean-up of the former Irish Steel toxic dump site.

As a Harbour resident and a boating enthusiast, the Marine Minister Simon Coveney is well-placed to oversee the progress in plans being made for his maritime backdoor, he tells Tommy Barker

€200m in investments and up to 4,000 marine-centred jobs and new tourism attractions are in Cork Harbour’s pipeline, reports Tommy Barker.

Plans for a major clean-up at a toxic dump in Cork harbour are to be the subject of a Bord Pleanála oral hearing.

Engineers from the Naval Service are assessing damage caused to the LÉ Aoife after the 65-metre-long patrol vessel crashed into a pontoon at the deep water quay in Cobh, Co Cork.

Your paper carries interesting news on oil exploration in Irish waters.

There was an almost poignant synergy of circumstances evident as Taoiseach Enda Kenny looked out across Cobh harbour.

A West Cork village is gearing up for an influx of more than 3,500 people next month as locals make final preparations for one of the most prestigious drama festivals on the national circuit.

YESTERDAY’S announcement that the Government has set a two-and-a-half year deadline to clean up the toxic dump at Haulbowline in Cork Harbour must be welcomed.

OFFICIALS from the EU Commission inspected the Haulbowline toxic dump in Cork harbour yesterday.

THE Cabinet is expected to sign off today on a €40 million package to begin the clean-up of one of Ireland’s largest toxic waste dumps.

COMING up on the 100th anniversary of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, Cobh’s large Carrig House has proven itself a survivor of all it surveys.

DESPITE convening four times and conducting two site visits in nine months, a taskforce to decide the future of a toxic waste dump still has not made its recommendations.

THE Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) have called on the Government to disclose the “full facts and costs” of the Haulbowline toxic dump clean-up contract.

A CORK contractor is claiming €114 million damages against three other firms over alleged breaches of agreement to clear contaminated materials from the former Irish Steel plant site at Haulbowline Island in Co Cork.

Minster for Environment John Gormley has announced that new tests will be carried on the site of the former Irish Steel works at Haulbowline.

NEARLY 1,000 people have signed petitions in the last 24 hours which were launched to pressure the Government into carrying out a baseline health study in a Cork harbour town blighted by cancer.

Friends of the Irish Environment has announced that it is issuing legal proceedings against the Minister for the Environment for holding waste at the site of the former Irish Steel plant in Co Cork.

THE Government is to establish a working group to decide upon the future of the former Irish Steel plant in Haulbowline, Co Cork, and the toxic waste it contains.

MINISTER for the Environment John Gormley has been accused of dragging his feet over the clean-up of a major toxic dump in Cork harbour.

MINISTER for the Environment John Gormley has said the future of the Cork harbour island of Haulbowline will be decided at a cabinet meeting in coming weeks.

A SPECIAL government body announced in 2006 to redevelop and “transform” Haulbowline Island was never formally established, the Irish Examiner has learned.

ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley will be unable to say how the former Irish Steel plant will be dealt with until a Government decision is made on the issue.

An assessment of the risks posed by toxic waste at the former Irish Steel plant in Cork has reportedly found that the site poses no identifiable threat to local residents.

TAXPAYERS forked out more than €42 million on the controversial Haulbowline clean-up operation when toxic waste was buried instead of removed.

A report into health and safety at the Irish Steel site at Haulbowline in Co. Cork has been completed.

Minister for the Environment John Gormley said he hopes a report commissioned by him into the toxic waste site at Haulbowline Island will reassure people there are no health risks associated with it.

ENVIRONMENT Minister John Gormley is to ask his cabinet colleagues to fund a multi-million-euro clean-up of Ireland’s worst toxic waste dump.

AT least 100 old mines have been identified with varying levels of contamination and in need of remediation similar to the Haulbowline toxic site in Cork harbour.

A LEADING road building company confirmed last night that it used material from the toxic Haulbowline site for several projects in Cork.

A PROBE is under way into allegations that contaminated material from the toxic Haulbowline site was used to build roads.