AN OIL pollution plan for the Shannon Estuary was inaugurated yesterday.
The Minister for State for the Marine, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said yesterday it was intended to establish a marine pollution forum this year. It would be open to members of local and port authorities, as well as oil companies and major industries on the Shannon Estuary.
The Minister said the recent grounding of the Sea Empress in Milford Haven in Wales reinforced the Government's concern about the vulnerability of the Irish coastline. There were many lessons to be learned and the Department would be conducting a full review of the spill.
The Shannon Estuary anti pollution team had, he said, set a number of milestones for the rest of the country. "It is the first region to put an oil pollution plan into place.
It was also, he added, the first area to apply a computer tracking system to monitor pollution, and the first to have firefighters trained in ship board firefighting.
The Minister said that the Shannon Estuary now handles over one third of Ireland's sea trade and it has potential for far better development. Vessels carrying eight million tonnes of cargo pass through the estuary each year.