Minister ‘makes ground’ at €30m Galway development

Ireland’s minister for agriculture, food and the marine has visited the new deepwater quay development at Ros an Mhíl, Galway to mark the start of construction work, reports Paul Scott.

Charlie McConalogue (pictured above) visited the state-owned Fishery Harbour Centre at the end of last month. “I’m delighted to be here to mark the start of the works on the deepwater quay project,” he said.

“In this case, we are ‘making ground’ rather than breaking it, to add 200m of quayside to this facility so we can accommodate larger fishing vessels and attract additional landings from both Irish and non-Irish fishing vessels.”

In 2021, almost 90% of all fish landed into Ireland was into the six state- owned Fishery Harbour Centres. At Ros an Mhíl, these landings were valued at around €15.9m.

“This critical infrastructure further demonstrates the importance this government places on safeguarding the future of our fisheries dependent coastal communities,” said Charlie McConalogue. “By providing a first-class landing infrastructure, we are ensuring the seafood industry can operate effectively and be efficiently serviced in this region.”

He said the investment, funded through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme, recognised Ros an Mhíl Fishery Harbour Centre as ‘an economic hub with potential for downstream development and job creation in this region’.

This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.30 here.

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