Kinsale locals object to planning permission for mussel farm the size of 12 GAA pitches

Olivia Kelleher

More than 3,000 people have signed a petition objecting to the granting of planning permission for a mussel farm in Kinsale, Co Cork, which will be the size of “12 GAA pitches.”

A 23-hectare bottom-culture mussel farm has been granted approval by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, sparking opposition among residents, environmental advocates, and local groups. The proposed site is located directly adjacent to Dock Beach.

The Department of Marine granted the license in May, with objectors having a month to appeal the decision.

Locals in Kinsale will gather both on land and sea at 6:30pm on Friday to register their opposition to the granting of a licence to a shellfish company to pursue the operation.

The protest flotilla will include fishing vessels, sailing boats, paddle boards, kayaks, and swimmers.

Kinsale resident, Donal Hayes, said the planning decision flies in the face of the entire community.

"There's an incredible sense of community and concern. And there's a kind of a spirit of volunteerism and local initiatives and there's this kind of, there's a feeling of we're all in this together, you know," he said.

"There's loads of things like the Gourmet Festival, the Arts Week, the Maritime Festival. I mean, you could keep going on. This flies in the face of everything.

"This campaign (against the project) marks a turning point in local civic engagement, with the people of Kinsale uniting to defend their coastal environment, heritage, and way of life.”

Meanwhile, Cork county councillors are to lodge a formal objection to the decision to grant planning permission to the controversial project.

Cllr Gillian Coughlan of Fianna Fáil told a meeting of Cork County Council earlier this week to say that locals in Kinsale “were disappointed and dismayed” at the granting of the licence “is an understatement."

Residents say they are outraged that the project has been allowed to proceed without what they perceive as public consultation or proper scrutiny of the ecological impact.

The Kinsale Swimmers, a year-round sea swimming group, voiced particular concern that dredging activity would stir up silt for up to six weeks, severely degrading water quality and making the beach unusable for swimming.

They also raised alarm about the accumulation of mussel faeces, which they say would pose a long-term threat to water quality in the bay.

Earlier this week in the Dáil, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the licence for the project was granted followed consultation with scientific advisors and statutory consultees.

“The legislation also provides for a period of public consultation, which for this application apparently was held in 2019 and was rerun in 2021. In total, there were 609 public submissions received.

"And I'm told that the decisions in respect of agricultural licence applications are only taken following the fullest consideration of all consultations and public interest elements of each application, including environmental considerations.

"An appeal against an aqua culture licence decision may be made in writing within one month. So there is a process here.”

Cork Independent Ireland TD Michael Collins raised the issue in the Dail on Tuesday.

He said the process in which the aquaculture licence was granted is “flawed” citing issues around “transparency with the licence award, a lack of public consultation, and a lack of monitoring of environmental impacts.”

The company behind the project Waterford based Woodstown Bay Shellfish Ltd has been contacted for comment.