Dursey farmer fears in-calf cows will starve

A FARMER has claimed that a number of in-calf cows face starvation on an island off the south-west coast if a dispute over weight restrictions on a cable car is not quickly resolved.

David Murphy, who is tending cattle on Dursey Island for his sick father, Gerald, says the animals are rapidly running out of feed.

“He [his father] has 10 cows in-calf on the island and we can only take small amounts of feed over to them on the cable car. If they stay on the island this winter they are in danger of starving,” Mr Murphy said.

He said that, for the last 42 years, the cable car was used to transport cattle off the island during the winter.

However, Cork County Council — which operates the cable car — has lowered the weight restriction on it, which farmers say means they cannot transport fully-grown cattle to the mainland.

“Other farmers using the island have the same problem. The only other option is to take the livestock off by boat, but the weather is simply too bad at the moment,” Mr Murphy said.

The sea currents around the Dursey Sound are notoriously treacherous.

The county council enforced the new weight restriction a couple of weeks ago after receiving a safety report from a group of engineering experts.

Mr Murphy and fellow farmers are hoping that a meeting which is scheduled to take place tomorrow may lead to a resolution.

It will be the first meeting of the Dursey Island Cable Car Working Group which will examine the future use of the service.

The working group has representation from residents of the island and farming community, Comhar na nOileán, Islands Division of Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs, Fáilte Ireland, Bere Island Projects Group and West Cork Development Partnership.

Jobs hopes

NEW hopes emerged yesterday that up to 600 under-threat jobs at a major waste disposal company, Mr Binman, now in receivership, can be saved.

TDs Willie O’Dea and Niall Collins, meeting receiver Padraic Monaghan of KPMG yesterday, were informed several expressions of interest had been put forward to retain the company as a going concern.