Dursey cable car closed after visitor spots ‘loose bolt’

THE country’s only cable car service has been shut down after a mechanical engineer spotted what he described as “a loose bolt” on an overhead mounting.

Cork County Council immediately suspended the service to Dursey Island in the Beara peninsula following the complaint.

A safety inspection is to be conducted. The engineer who spotted the suspected problem is not employed by the local authority.

Senior engineer with Cork County Council, Ted Murphy, said he regarded the cable car as being safe. But it had been decided, he said, to seek the advice of an independent consultant. As a precautionary measure, the cable car was closed down shortly after 4pm on Tuesday.

The individual who made the complaint had been visiting Dursey island. He spotted an anchor bolt which he said wasn’t flush with a steel plate mounting for the overhead cables which connect two 80ft towers – one on the island and one on the mainland.

Last September, the county council replaced the galvanised cable car, which was first installed in 1969.

However, as the new €30,000 car was being installed, engineers noticed fraying on each of the 1,225ft-long main suspension cables straddling the treacherous waters of Dursey Sound. As a result, they had to postpone putting up the new cable car until they had located a company which could supply them with steel cable.

The council eventually found a manufacturer in England able to supply the 1.2 tonnes cables, at a cost of €35,000. For nearly three months, locals and landowners on the island were without the service. They had to be ferried to and from Dursey by boat.

Meanwhile, conditions around the island over the past two days have been described as extremely windy.

“This makes it impossible for any islander to get on and off Dursey. People are actually stranded there,” said Castletownbere-based Cllr Noel Harrington. “So it’s imperative this is sorted out as quickly as possible. The cable car has been a lifeline to the people of Dursey Island for years and I hope this is fixed very speedily.”