KILLYBEGS fishery harbour centre will receive over €9 million in funding in 2022 as part of a major investment announced by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD this morning.
Minister McConalogue announced the allocation of €35m for capital projects in 2022 in Ireland’s six state-owned Fishery Harbour Centres at Killybegs, Ros an Mhíl, An Daingean, Castletownbere, Dunmore East and Howth through the Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme.
The funding for Killybegs includes €5.5m to advance the Smooth Point Pier extension; €500,000 for water control measures; €900,000 for energy saving measures; €1.2 million for pile on Blackrock Pier and Landing Pier; €50,000 for Landing Pier fendering; €850,000 for the Small Craft Harbour Service Building; €150,000 for the provision of Harbour Master Stores and €50,000 for the provision of workshop stores.
Announcing the investment, the Minister commented: “The facilities at our Fishery Harbour Centres are critical to the seafood industry and it is important to that we continue to modernise and innovate in the services they provide. This increased investment demonstrates this Government’s serious commitment to supporting the fishing industry and rural coastal communities. The investment underpins the emphasis in Food Vision 2030 on supporting primary producers. This investment of over €9m in Killybegs this year is important investment for the Killybegs community and for County Donegal to maintain its standing as a major marine infrastructure county.
In 2020 just under 90% of all fish landed into Ireland arrived at the Fishery Harbour Centres. In that same year, BIM valued the Irish seafood industry at €1.069bn GDP.
Two flagship projects, namely the Middle Pier berthing face project, Howth (€3m in 2022), the Dinish Quay extension in Castletownbere (€7.5m), are expected to be completed under the 2022 Programme.
The Minister noted the economic importance of supporting the sector: “With almost 3,000 people directly employed in fisheries and a further 13,500 employed either directly or indirectly across the seafood sector, these investments will contribute to maintaining existing jobs and provide the scope to create employment opportunities. Paired with the roll out of the recommendations of the Seafood Sector Task Force, I hope this announcement sends a strong signal that we are committed to supporting and developing the sector to be resilient to the challenge of adjusting to the impact of Brexit.”
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