Concerns cost of repairing weir in North Cork town could stall project indefinitely

Members of one of Ireland’s oldest rowing clubs are despairing that the centuries-old North Cork weir which gave them their training area will ever be fixed, after costings for its repair came in at €5.5m.

The millpond caused by Fermoy Weir is Fermoy Rowing Club’s main training area. A 2019 breach of the weir — a listed, protected structure owned by Cork County Council — led to its collapse, and a subsequent 2m drop in upstream water height, costing the rowing club much of its training area.

Calls on the county council to repair the weir have been complicated by the fact that State body Inland Fisheries Ireland has stated that any repair must be accompanied by the building of a separate fish pass to run alongside the river.

Migrating salmon

That enclosed channel would run parallel to the Blackwater’s north-western bank and would carry migrating salmon upstream to spawn.

Last week, Cork County Council published estimated costs of €5.5m for the project, with repairs of the weir coming in at €1.5m and the building of the state-of-the-art fish pass costing €3.4m.

Council management said they intended to “engage at a high level with the relevant Government departments and agencies to seek funding support”.

They said planning consent required that “the fish bypass must be progressed to enable the weir remediation works and so the project cannot be subdivided”.

They added that the tender process “cannot be commenced until the necessary funding is confirmed”.

Pessimistic

Paul Kavanagh, a trustee of Fermoy Rowing Club, told The Echo that club members are worried the repairs will never be carried out.

“I would certainly be completely pessimistic that it would be done this decade,” he said. “We’ve done everything, and it’s delay, delay, delay. Now they can’t go to tender without funding being in place.”