€145,000 raised for port plan

THE people of the beautiful West Cork fishing village and holiday resort of Schull are on the verge of embarking on a huge harbour development scheme and have already shown their total commitment by raising €145,000 towards the cost.

They have won approval in principle from the Cork County Council Coastal Management Committee, which held a special meeting there to see the need for the scheme. The next step now will be to seek planning permission and of course financial backing from State resources.

Through the past two year the representatives of all interested parties have been working on the project, drumming up support and enthusiasm and bringing forward a positive set of plans.

These include the extension of the pier to the east and northeast, the provision of a breakwater running from the north shore to meet the extended pier with a narrow opening channel, the provision of a marina for leisure craft within the newly-created inner harbour, and the provision of a sandy beach area.

The umbrella group is called the Schull Harbour Users Group and is headed by the Schull Development Association, the Schull Fisherman’s Organisation and the Schull Harbour Sailing Club.

Unity of purpose and the high level of commitment from all these involved was proven as they sought to raise money by inviting people to become patrons for 250 euros or by pre booking marina berths with a contribution of 3,000, all monies to be refundable with interest in 2005 if the project fails to go ahead. The response was massive and the county council was impressed, vital since they own the land involved.

The Coastal Management Committee meeting, which was held in Schull in May, voted to prioritise the project, a huge step forward and the project will now be discussed by the full council. The council will also review the current Schull Harbour loadings and commission an official engineering study as part of the project.

The entire thrust is to ensure that Schull Harbour continues to grow both as a fishing port and a visiting port for leisure crafts, and the project is by far the most ambitious and far-reaching produced for the area.

The Fastnet Schools Regatta will be held for the 15th consecutive year at Schull Community College, July 22-26, with entries not only from Ireland but also from Belgium, Britain and Northern Ireland.

Down at Kinsale YC, life continues with the July Midweek League having its second race. The Carroll Brothers continue to lead overall in both handicaps in Class One with Highland Dancer. Dan Buckley’s Hydaway leads in Class Two under both handicaps, while in Class Three, the McCutcheon family leads in IRC with Time Trapp with Jim McEvoy’s Bunbury leading in Echo. The Kinsale YC recently presented a 3,000 cheque to the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat Fund.

Andrew Craig of the Royal St George Club won the Price Waterhouse East Coast Dragon Championships at the National YC. Consistency gave him two seconds and a fifth to take victory over J Ross Murphy of same club with Courtenay Good from Kinsale third.