Thousands sign pier petition

An online petition to get Clare County Council to make changes to its proposal for a new €6 million pier at Doolin received more than 4,000 signatures in the past week.
The petition requests Clare County Council do not proceed with their current plans for a new harbour pier in Doolin.
On Wednesday, the petition had more than 4,800 signatures from members of the national and international surfing community.
“We are concerned that this design will damage the nearby surf spots of Doolin Point and Crab Island from wave backwash or reflection. We are also concerned that, because the design puts the pier so far out on the point, surfers will need to enter or exit the water to the east of the pier and therefore cross the paths of berthing or departing ferries to get to the waves. This is a major safety hazard,” the petition stated.
The petition signatories want the local authority to “ensure that their engineers engage with the West Coast Surf Club and Irish Surfing Association to agree an alternative design that does not damage the nearby world-class surfing waves of Crab Island and Doolin Point from wave backwash and reflection”, and “allows surfers access the waves without having to cross the path of berthing and departing ferries”.
David Blount, a member of the West Coast Surf Club, uploaded the petition to petitiononline.com.
“I haven’t gone through it in detail but it seems to be about 50:50 international and Irish. That indicates to me how well it is regarded internationally and here in Ireland. Councils spend money on mountain bike trails and skate parks. Here we have a facility that is naturally occurring and free. People live in Ireland and pay taxes here and deserve to have these facilities and amenities available to them,” said Mr Blount.
“If the proposed pier goes ahead, there will be a huge fallout. There has been massive publicity in surf publications against this development and there will be the same amount of negative publicity if the wave is destroyed,” he claimed.
According to Mr Blount, the large response is justified, as he believes the planned development would impact negatively on surf tourism and could cause businesses to close.
“Surfers, when they are picking their holiday destinations, if they hear negative things about the waves in the place they are going to, of course they are going to go somewhere else like Portugal or Indonesia or wherever. The Discover Ireland marketing campaign even features surfing and tourism and businesses, be they restaurants, pubs or hotels in the area, will take a huge hit if people see negative things like this,” Mr Blount concluded.
In the statement issued recently, the West Coast Surf Club acknowledged the necessity for a pier development or pier extension and “are not opposing a pier development at this time”.  
Clare County Council has received eight submissions on the proposed pier to date, including one from WCSC, and is due to make a decision on the planning application on August 5.