Tom MacSweeney column: Passage West pontoon undergoing upgrading works
Upgrading works are being undertaken on the Passage West pontoon.
Passage West has had a pontoon for a number of years, which is getting an upgrading to improve facilities and impose stricter control of usage.
A pontoon is a single floating structure to moor boats, while a marina is a wider harbour operation with more facilities.
There have been problems at Passage West.
Upgrading is to include work on the gangway and flotation units; new railings, lighting and safety buoys; a new access/locking system and a four-camera CCTV system. Future access will require prior registration/fees and a personalised PIN.
This is intended to manage usage because pontoon ’hogging,’ when inconsiderate boat owners leave vessels unattended for long periods, obstructing usage by others, has caused difficulties. That has been highlighted by the river users’ group.
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The PIN system and compulsory registration will be used by Port of Cork administration to monitor usage and prevent ‘hogging’.
Passage West has a great maritime tradition, the birthplace of the Irish steamship industry, where the first steamship built in Ireland, the City of Cork, was launched in 1815 at the Hennessy Brothers Shipyard,
Passage West Maritime Museum, close to the pontoon at that historic site, is the custodian of the town’s rich maritime heritage.
Cork County Council does not seem to be listening to the views of another harbour side community.
This is Myrtleville, a seaside location described by county councillor and native of the area, Jack White, to me as “a place with a very special feel.” Apparently Council planners have “the idea of developing a car park” on the last major green space in the village area to relieve parking pressure when visitors are at their peak during summer weekends.
“Concerns about traffic management on 10 busy Saturdays and Sundays in June, July, August, are valid, but a car park is not the right answer,” Mr White said.
“Residents of Myrtleville have indicated they don’t want it and are worried about what it could do to the character of the area. I’m very concerned at how far this appears to have progressed internally in the council, including around the acquisition of land, without proper consultation with elected councillors who represent the people living there.”
‘Representation’ of community viewpoints is becoming a frequent complaint about council planners not listening to impacts on communities affected by their proposals.
Colin Breen, Associate Head School of Geography and Environmental Sciences in Ulster University and advisor to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) on culture/heritage/climate adaptation, who has written ‘Lords of the Sea,’ which I referred to previously, is a Corkman!
He comes from Douglas and was a pupil at Rochestown College. The book, about life on our western seaboard, from West Cork to Antrim and across the North Channel to Scotland, during the 11th to the 17th centuries, is attracting a lot of interest.
Colin Breen discusses his book with me on the October edition of SEASCAPES Podcast.
A short poem about the lordly salmon - known as the ‘Goldie Fish’ atop Shandon:
'This is a note from me to you, to tell you a bit about me.
I’m not sure who my maker was, though I know my purpose.
My duty is to swim towards Atlantic storms, to guide the city I’m bound to.
I am a beacon for the ambitious, a spiritual guide for those in need.
And a familiar face for those that look up.'
It is on the attached card to a salmon pin badge given me by the organising committee of the Mother Jones Festival, where I spoke this year and it’s good to be told that the city council is considering a memorial monument to that legendary Cork woman.
Cobh is Ireland’s only branch of the society from which secretary Michael Martin e-mails that their season of lectures from October by visiting experts will be at the Commodore Hotel on the third Tuesday of each month:
“Topics include ‘Shipwrecks between Courtmacsherry and Kinsale'; 'The Forts of Cork Harbour'; 'The Crean Family Centenary Expedition to South Georgia, and more," wrote Mr Martin.
“The branch is open for new members. There is a modest annual subscription fee of €55. Anybody interested in joining, please e-mail Chairperson, Frank Walley at: fwalley1@gmail.com The branch are looking forward to a mini-cruise at the end of the season to Bilbao with Brittany Ferries.”
Meitheal Mara is offering an opportunity to lead delivery of the Ocean-to-City Race – An Rás Mór - as well as co-ordination of the Cork Harbour Festival.
“We’re recruiting a festival/events manager,” says Joya Kuin, Meitheal Mara communications manager. “It’s a really interesting role.”
Details on their website.
Ireland’s only maritime programme at: https://tommacsweeneyseascapes.ie or wherever you get your Podcasts.
Email: tommacsweeneyseascapes@gmail.com with your maritime comments.
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