Dumped fruit sends Foynes bananas

BOSTON Harbour had its Tea Party and now Foynes port in Co Limerick has just had its Banana Day.

Tonnes of the tropical fruit were dumped onto the quayside following a ship fire and, like the Boston tea, the Foynes bananas were a write-off.

Three hundred tonnes of bananas presented a chimp’s delight, but there wasn’t an ape in sight as the bananas ended up being consigned to a nearby landfill.

The cargo was damaged in a fire on the Hawk Bay in the port on Tuesday and, after being taken from the ship, the banana harvest was dumped in the Limerick Co Council landfill in nearby Gortadroma.

The boxed bananas were part of a shipment of 7,000 tons brought in from Colombia.

Shortly after the Hawk Bay arrived in port, smoke started billowing from the holds when hatches were opened. Fire units from Foynes and Rathkeale under Chief Fire Officer Carmel Kirby dealt with the alert.

The fire took hold and fire fighters had to use breathing apparatus to access the vessel.

Initially it was feared that the entire 7,000 tonnes of bananas would be lost.

On inspection 300 tonnes in one section of the hold were found to be tainted and were separated from the rest of the cargo.

Another 700 tonnes were also unloaded for Irish distributors and the rest of the cargo continued on to Portsmouth.