Munster Express Online

Permission for small fishermen to use a pontoon at Passage East is still being refused by the Port of  Waterford Company five years after the latter deemed shared access to be ‘a terrorist risk’.

Local county councillor John Carey (FG), who has been raising the issue since day one, says the local authority granted planning permission for the pontoon, but then the Port company came up with ‘9-11’ as a reason for locking out fishermen from the village. After years of deadlock he’s hoping council officials can finally secure use of the facility for boat-owners in the Estuary – but isn’t holding his breath.

Dunmore East councillor Pat Fitzgerald (SF) also referred to the stand-off at last week’s meeting of Waterford Co Council, saying the Port had no right to make the pontoon “a no-go area.”

In responding to the fishermen’s complaints back in 2005, the Port stated that it was “compelled” to restrict access based on legal advice that “the joint occupation of the Pilots’ Pontoon with the public presents an unacceptable security risk.”

Citing the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001, Port CEO Stan McIlvenny pointed out that “In the wake of the events of September 11th, the International Maritime Organization and the European Community responded by requiring Member States to introduce various security measures in order to protect harbour installations against terrorist attack.”

Further justifying the closure of the Pontoon (for which the Port has a lease from the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Recourses), the Port contended that failure to comply with the above Directive might see international trade through Waterford stopped.

The Port added: “It is an inescapable fact that the fishermen have migrated to the pontoon because of a failure of Waterford County Council to maintain depth at the harbour. If depth were restored, numerous fishing and leisure interests could be accommodated.”

As a “good compromise”, the Port proposed giving split access to the pontoon subject to conditions and a monthly fee being charged per vessel size.

However, Cllr Carey says paying rent – at what fishermen called ‘marina rates’ – is out of the question; not least because at the outset the Port were given a site (the old squash court) in Passage at a knockdown price of €30,000 to develop a pilot’s station and lookout on the solid understanding that a proper berthing place would be provided for the joint use of the Port’s employees, local boatmen and yacht owners. As for the Port’s contention that the Council hadn’t kept the inner harbour sufficiently deep to launch boats, he said the Port hadn’t dredged the waters there since the demise of the ‘Portláirge’, which used visit twice a year.

Ultimately, he said, the Port had reneged on its end of the bargain, taking away a long-standing berthing point at the pier based on what is frankly a ‘red herring’ about terrorism.