Hundreds turn out on land and at sea to protest against Kinsale mussel farm
Bulman dippers on Dock beach protesting about the proposed mussel farm up for planning inside the harbour in Kinsale. Pictures: Eddie O'Hare.
More than 500 people and up to 110 vessels came together in Kinsale on Friday evening to protest a controversial mussel farm which was recently approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine.
The protest, organised by Jon Hynes, who is the director of the Kinsale Outdoor Education Centre (OEC), in conjunction with local residents, Donal Hayes and Marc Ó Riain, aimed to shine a light on the widespread level of local opposition to the proposed development.
The licence for the mussel farm, initially lodged in 2018 by Woodstown Bay Shellfish Ltd, was approved by the department at the end of May.
The development, which received 609 previous objections between 2019 and 2021, will see the commercial cultivation of mussels in Kinsale Harbour, using bottom culture on the sub-tidal foreshore, at a 23-hectare site between the Dock Beach, James Fort, and Charles Fort.
The protest took place both on land and at sea, at the proposed site, with hundreds showing up to show their support for the opposition campaign.
Vessels present in the protest flotilla included fishing boats, sail boats, lifeboats, motorboats, ribs, kayaks, canoes and rowing boats, as well as swimmers, paddleboarders, kitesurfers and more.
Speaking to following the protest, Tony Scannell commodore of the Kinsale Yacht Club, said he hopes that the protest will show how the “people of Kinsale are appalled” by the proposed development.
“I’m very confident that there were people who used their boats tonight that haven’t in months. They felt justified to make that extra effort, to be measured in their opposition,” said Mr Scannell.
“There was representation from every sector – everyone who uses that beach and that water was represented at this. I really hope that this protest will alert politicians to the sense of betrayal that people feel.
“The Kinsale Yacht Club will certainly be lodging an appeal – we're very concerned that this will lead to a terrible degradation of water and that it will perhaps block off an area of the harbour that has been used for 70 years," he added.
“We are also concerned about the risk of reputation loss for Kinsale. People will be worried about the danger to their [boat] engines because of the ingestion of these miniature mussels – it will affect every vessel travelling in these waters.
“I hope that the word will get out there that the people of Kinsale are appalled that this has been granted and that we want it urgently reviewed.”
Mr O’Riain, who was instrumental in setting up an online petition opposing the development, which has since reached more than 3,700 signatures, said that the protest was “great for the community”.
“I was on the beach side of the protest; it went really well – we had a big crowd,” said Mr O’Riain.
“There was a massive turnout and that’s great for the community. We hope that this will put pressure on the minister [for the marine] [because] this [mussel farm] will clearly not be beneficial for Kinsale.
“This will put fishermen out of business; they’re putting people’s livelihoods on the line and saying that this will be beneficial for the town," he added.
“We’ve put together a really strong appeal – the businesses of Kinsale, restaurateurs, fishermen, swimmers, and hoteliers, are all coming together and objecting – and this is really important for the government to hear.”
Mr Hayes said that he would be “very surprised if there was a house in Kinsale where there wasn’t somebody present at the protest".
“I thought it was great – I was delighted with the turnout. I’ve never seen that before,” said Mr Hayes.
“There were hundreds of people there, it was fascinating. Everyone was in it together.
“We wanted to draw attention to the fact that they are genuinely considering putting an industrial mussel farm where we were tonight, and it just can’t happen."
He said there are "about two solid weeks" during which an appeal against the development can be lodged.
“I pray to God that this appeal succeed," said Mr Hayes.
Woodstown Bay Shellfish Ltd have been contacted several times for a comment on the matter.
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