Tag Archives: Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce

CLARE County Council have called on the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce to put the development of a deep sea port at Moneypoint at the top of its list of priorities. At a recent meeting of Clare County Council, Lissycasey’s PJ Ryan (Ind) criticised a recent report from the Taskforce. “The most important asset of the Shannon, Moneypoint as a future port, is not mentioned,” he said. He said that across Europe there is congestion at major ports such as Rotterdam and developing Moneypoint could be a huge success. “Moneypoint is the deepest potential port. It should be developed and stop the Mickey Mouse projects at the other side of the river,” he said. He said that Foynes would be “an irrelevance” to future shipping needs and he said Clare County Council has to “go back and insist that Moneypoint is top of the list.” He was supported by Fine Gael’s Johnny Flynn, who said that Moneypoint would have huge advantages …

ANNOYANCE at the exclusion of local authority chiefs from the new Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce, was expressed in no uncertain terms at this month’s County Council meeting.  Strong concern was expressed that the Chief Executive of Clare County Council has not been included on the group, and that his counterparts in Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary have also been snubbed.  Chief Executive Pat Dowling told councillors that he had gone so far as to formally apply for a place on the taskforce, but that his application had been rejected. That is despite the fact that local authorities have been identified as key stakeholders in the development of the Estuary.  In a joint motion, Councillors Ian Lynch, Cillian Murphy and Johnny Flynn called on the Tánaiste to include local authority heads. A separate motion from Councillor Flynn also asked that the potential of the Fergus Estuary be included under its remit.  Councillor Murphy said there were several concerns over the taskforce. “The …