Ringaskiddy incinerator is the wrong project, in the wrong place, for the wrong future
(Left to right) Members of the Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE) Linda Fitzpatrick, Denis Cronin, Mary O’Leary, Sue Walsh, Gertie O’Driscoll and Marcia Dalton review the latest plans at an urgent public meeting in Crosshaven Community Centre. Their energy has highlighted the many reasons Ringaskiddy cannot become home to this incinerator. Photo: Joleen Cronin
For 24 years now, Cork people have opposed proposals for an incinerator at Ringaskiddy. For a third time, local people are mobilising against it.
The Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE) have been campaigning against this incinerator since 2001 and have been successful in stopping it so far. People from Carrigaline, Monkstown, Passage, Cobh, Ringaskiddy, Crosshaven, East Cork and Cork City came together to form CHASE and it is their energy that has highlighted the myriad of reasons Ringaskiddy cannot become home to this incinerator.
This is the wrong project, in the wrong place, for the wrong future. For me it is absolutely clear that this is the wrong site for this incinerator. We cannot allow an incinerator to be constructed on a known flood-risk site which is predicted to be eroded significantly in the coming decades.
Cork Harbour is a living space with homes, schools, marine life, and tourism. Even the developer admits the site needs raising and flood defences. Why build a smokestack on a flood-prone coastline in an age of rising seas?
Incinerators release toxic gases and ultra-fine particles. Campaigners have repeatedly highlighted the lack of any independent health impact assessment for local residents, schools, and workers. We cannot risk our children’s lungs or our harbour’s health. The plan would see 240,000 tonnes of waste burned every year, casting residue throughout our harbour towns.
It is not recommended to build incinerators in areas that are subject to ‘thermal inversion’ and Cork Harbour is subject to this as a result of the basin-like topography of the area. Thermal inversion means that air can become trapped at a low level and can’t escape and when we apply this to fine particles of toxic waste this is extremely alarming.
Depending on the weather, CHASE have illustrated how far across Cork the plume from an incinerator could travel on any given day. This is not a Ringaskiddy issue alone, it’s very much a Cork issue.
Previously, attempts by the developer to locate the waste incinerator on this site were halted. Despite all inspectors recommending refusal, planning was granted in 2001, refused in 2009 and granted again in 2016, with each decision ending up at the High Court.
Most recently in 2021, CHASE won a High Court case on the grounds of objective bias in the decision-making process but the application was remitted back to An Bord Pleanála and the developer Indaver submitted information which is now up for review in a short time window.
The response from CHASE and residents to the latest developments remains the same as in 2001, a well-informed “No”.
I attended public meetings recently on the issue in Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline and I had shivers down my spine listening to the clear and factual presentations from the CHASE campaigners, many of whom have spent decades fighting this. We cannot let this initiative fall at the final hurdle.
As residents and political representatives who wish to protect the area, we must stand firm on our objection to this plan.
This is a proven threat to public health, a threat to our coastline and to the tourism economy in Cork Harbour. Opposing this is not about refusing solutions to manage waste but it is about appropriate land use. Cork Harbour is now a nationally significant education, research and tourism zone, and the site has been consistently identified as unsuitable for an incinerator.
An incinerator on our harbour sends the wrong message to visitors and investors. Cork Harbour is known worldwide for sailing, cruise ships, kayaking, wildlife, and heritage.
A giant waste burner here would damage our clean, green image and undermine local tourism and business. In a time of uncertainty, we need to be supporting our tourism industry locally, not creating an eyesore that could harm its chances.
The proposed site is currently zoned as suitable for the extension of nearby third-level campuses as per the latest Cork County Development plan. The National Maritime College of Ireland and MaREI research centre for Energy, Climate and Marine are located close by.
Cork Students’ Union representatives previously opposed this incinerator. As further and higher education spokesperson for the Labour Party, I am concerned that this site needs to be ringfenced for educational purposes and this would better serve the area.
We should be looking forwards and nurturing innovation and development in our harbour rather than polluting it for future generations. The proposed incinerator is in direct breach of the objectives set out for this area.
It is very important that this zoning is upheld to allow for future investment in the education sector and to stop future plans for an incinerator on a site that is wholly unsuitable.
I would encourage any and all interested in the rejection of this plan for an incinerator in Cork Harbour to make a submission to An Coimisiún Pleanála before the deadline of Monday, November 17.
- Laura Harmon is a Labour Party senator from Cork. She is Labour spokesperson for Further and Higher Education and Disability.
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