More than 3,000 people have signed a petition objecting to the granting of planning permission for a mussels farm in Kinsale, Co Cork, which they say will be the size of “12 GAA pitches”.
The 23 hectare farm has been approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine sparking opposition among residents, environmental advocates and local groups.
Kinsale residents are to gather on land and sea at 6.30pm on Friday in a display of opposition. A protest flotilla will include fishing vessels, sailing boats, paddle boards, kayaks and swimmers.
The license for the proposed site, adjacent to Dock Beach, was approved for Waterford-based Woodstown Bay Shellfish Ltd in May, with objectors given a month to appeal.
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“There’s an incredible sense of community and concern,” Kinsale resident Donal Hayes said. “There’s a feeling of we’re all in this together, you know. There’s loads of things [going on locally] like the Gourmet Festival, the Arts Week, the Maritime Festival. This flies in the face of everything.”
[ Last orders: the Kinsale community trying to save their local pubOpens in new window ]
He said the community was uniting to defend their coastal environment, heritage and way of life.
Cork county councillors are to lodge a formal objection to the decision.
Fianna Fáil councillor Gillian Coughlan told a council meeting earlier this week that to say locals “were disappointed and dismayed” at the granting of the licence “is an understatement.”
The Kinsale Swimmers, a year-round sea swimming group, voiced particular concern that dredging activity would stir up silt for up to six weeks, severely degrading water quality and making the beach unusable for swimming.
They also raised alarm about the accumulation of mussel faeces, which they say would pose a long-term threat to water quality in the bay.
Residents say they are outraged the project was allowed to proceed without what they perceive as public consultation or proper scrutiny of the ecological impact.
However, earlier this week in the Dáil, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the project licence was granted following consultation with scientific advisers and statutory consultees.
“The legislation also provides for a period of public consultation, which for this application apparently was held in 2019 and was rerun in 2021. In total, there were 609 public submissions received,” he said.
“And I’m told that the decisions in respect of agricultural licence applications are only taken following the fullest consideration of all consultations and public interest elements of each application, including environmental considerations.”
Mr Martin said due process allowed for an appeal against an aquaculture licence decision within one month.
Cork Independent Ireland TD Michael Collins raised the issue in the Dáil on Tuesday. He said the process by which the aquaculture licence was granted was “flawed”, citing issues around “transparency with the licence award, a lack of public consultation, and a lack of monitoring of environmental impacts.”
Woodstown Bay Shellfish Ltd has been contacted for comment.
