Call for harbour board to be disbanded over wrecks

A CONTINUING problem with wrecks has led to a tourist and fishing village calling on the Government to disband a statutory harbour board in west Cork.

A group representing stakeholders in Baltimore accused the harbour board of “not doing its job” over the removal of the wrecks.

Trawler skippers, sailing school operators, divers and anglers are included in the group.

But the row intensified yesterday after Baltimore Harbour Board chairman Cllr Joe Carroll refuted the claims. He accused the representative group of ignoring the facts.

However, Baltimore Harbour Users Group spokesman John Kearney claimed the harbour board didn’t want to generate any more business because it lacked facilities and wasn’t doing anything about removing a number of wrecks which were eyesores and discouraging tourism.

But Mr Carroll hit back. He said that a new pier, costing €1.1 million, was to be opened in the harbour next week.

“I’m 10 years on the harbour board and we’ve had a deputation to Dublin nearly every year looking for funding. The Department of Transport want Cork County Council to take over the running of the harbour. The money will be provided to the council when we can find private partners to help us with developments. We have lots of plans to develop the harbour,” Mr Carroll said.

He claimed it “wasn’t easy to remove wrecks” as their disposal involved a complex and long procedure to establish ownership.

Fine Gael Cllr Tadhg O’Donovan, who is also a member of the harbour board, also blamed successive governments for their failure to provide adequate funding.