By Andy Spearman
Nobody from Drogheda Port available to update Council on eyesore dredger
Drogheda Port Company was invited to send a representative to yesterday’s meeting of the Drogheda Borough District to update members on the situation regarding the abandoned dredger which sank at its moorings in September but nobody from the company showed up.
Louth County CouncilCouncil wrote to the Port Company on October 28th outlining Councillors concerns about the Hebble Sand and inviting either Port Chief Executive Paul Fleming or the newly appointed Harbour Master, Captain Laurence Kirwan, to address Councillors concerns about the Hebble Sand and environmental damage to the River Boyne.
At yesterday’s meeting, Councillors were told that neither of the Port representatives had made themselves available to explain the current situation regarding the stricken vessel.
This drew an angry response from Councillor Paddy McQuillan who said that it is “outrageous that this rust bucket is still sitting in our river.”
“People are sick looking at it” he continued. “Can we not legally compel them to remove it?”
After the Hebble Sand, which has been tied up at the quayside across the river from the dHotel for almost a decade, sank in September there were immediate calls for the vessel to be removed from the Boyne.
Despite previous appeals from the Council to have the 60-year-old vessel which is 47 metres long and weighs 750 tonnes re-floated and removed, the Port Company has failed to do so which has led to a growing perception among the general public that the company’s sense of emergency leaves much to be desired.
The Council’s Director of Services, Paddy Donnelly, told yesterday’s meeting that establishing the ownership of the vessel continues to be an issue.
This differs from statements made by Harbour Master Martin Donnelly, who has since retired, to Drogheda Life in the immediate aftermath of the sinking. He said that the Port Company was liaising with the owners of the vessel to have it removed from the Boyne as soon as possible.
Labour Councillor Fiachra Mac Raghnaill said yesterday that the correspondence so far on the environmental impact of the Hebble Sand sinking was that there had been little impact on the level of oxygen in the river but that was to be expected.
He was more concerned about the possible impact on the bird life in the estuary and asked whether or not there had been any discussions with the organisations responsible for the management of these sanctuaries.
Paddy Donnelly told him that the risk assessments carried out indicated that there were low levels of pollution but that there was concern about the bird sanctuary and promised to revert back to the members as soon as the information was to hand.
