Hi Tony,
This e-mail is in relation to the state of the Harbour in Balbriggan. For the past five years the Loreto Secondary School's Local History classes have studied the harbour. They have gone down to it to observe the area. They survey the place and note year after year the amount of wrecks (averages out at 7), pollution from all sorts of rubblish, grafitti and many dangers that exist in the area. The visit is followed up by a letter to Trevor Sargent and people in Fingal County Council who are informed of the pollution, graffiti and dangers in the area.  Although they reply to the students' letters there is little or nothing done to improve the situation.
Improvements have come about including the painting over of grafitti on the lighthouse (the graffiti is coming through again though), stone masons employed by FCC were, last september, improving the harbour wall  and a "NO Dumping" sign has been erected. However the wrecks are still present causing pollution to the marne life there. The wrecks are the responsibility of the owners of the boats, not the harbour master or Fingal County Council. FCC have tried to contact the owners but to no avail. The owners of the wrecks should be ashamed of themselves, the place has become a tip as the rubbish circulates around them. Someone must know who owns the wrecks, there should be a register of owners somewhere. Surely they can be contacted and demanded to get rid of their wrecks. For five years nothing has been done, even though many people of authority have been made aware of the situation.
There are many ways the harbour could be improved and the students have come up with many interesting ideas, however the removal of the wrecks would be a start to the harbour's improvement.
The students are very intersted in seeing something done to the harbour, however they feel they could be writing to local TDs and FCC forever before improvements come about. What else can be done?
 
Thank You,
The TY Local History Classes, Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan.

Dear Balbriggan.net

I have to say that I really do agree with the recent visitors. Each time I've visited Balbriggan, I've been struck by how nicely kept the Town is and what a mess the Harbour is. I'm surprised it's allowed! That wreck by the Lighthouse especially is a real eyesore - in fact I'm more than a little surprised that one or other of the commercial vessels having to navigate past hasn't taken it on themselves to 'accidentally' tow it out to sea and put it out of it's (and our) misery.

Such a shame when so much planning, effort and expense has so obviously gone into making the town such a pleasing place to have the effect spoilt by is part working harbour and part rubbish tip.

I wish you well in your quest to get the place up to the standard set by the rest of the town.

Thanks for a brilliant website, by the way - I check it every single day and almost always find something of interest.

Philip Weston

Sept-
Dec
2007
News
Here

Jan-Mar07
News
Here