Minister’s Haulbowline team never formed

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

In July 2006, the then Enterprise Minister, Micheál Martin, received government approval for the establishment of an inter-departmental project team to develop proposals for Haulbowline.

The group, to be led by the Department of Enterprise, would “transform Haulbowline and the lower Cork Harbour, making it an attractive place to work, live and do business”, according to the press release issued at the time.

A 300-bed hotel, 200 apartments, 16,000 square metres of office space, a marina and club house were among the facilities planned for the 44-acre site.

“The project envisaged for Haulbowline would be among the largest projects in the State since the development of the Financial Services Centre in Dublin,” said Mr Martin at the time.

“This 44-acre site has the potential to be the most attractive waterside site in Europe.”

But the interdepartmental group has yet to be formally established.

Responding to questions from this paper, the Department of Enterprise said it did consult with other departments and agencies about the issues involved, but had not yet set up the interdepartmental group.

“A range of issues have been under consideration, including site boundary issues, zoning issues and other regulatory matters. Consideration has also been given to the best mechanism for taking the project forward prior to any formal establishment of an interdepartmental group,” it said.

Opposition TDs such as Labour’s Ciaran Lynch have long been sceptical of the redevelopment plans due to the toxic waste contained on the former Irish Steel plant on the island.

While the Government has committed itself to ensuring the site is safe, it has yet to state whether it will remove the waste or cap it. Removing the waste would allow for redevelopment of the site to go ahead, but would cost hundreds of millions of euro.

The Department of Enterprise acknowledged the toxic waste could pose an obstacle to redevelopment.

“The department has also been considering site investigations, the status of current works on the site, the identification of ongoing site management issues and the identification of possible constraints to the remediation and redevelopment of the site,” it said.