Thursday, 5th


July 2018


info@eastcorkjournal.ie


Letters to the Editor can be posted to The East Cork Journal, 88 Main Street, Midleton or emailed to editor@eastcorkjournal.ie. The editor reserves the right not to publish and no anonymous letters will be accepted. All correspondence must contain a telephone number for verification purposes.


Incinerator is wrong for Cork by ERIC NOLAN ‘Not in my backyard’ is


a statement that has been used so much that it has a shorter name for ease of use. Nimbyism has become a term used to dismiss op- position to projects by those who live in the vicinity of said project. A properly functioning society requires facilities like


hospitals,


schools, energy generation plants and dumps to name but a few. And they have to go somewhere. We all want to be close


to hospitals and schools. We want to be far away from power plants and dumps. Sometimes objections from locals are primarily nimby- ism. Those objecting accept fully that the facility in ques- tion is needed on a societal level and they just don’t want it located near them. I don’t think the growing movement in opposition to


Indaver’s planned inciner- ator


in Ringaskiddy falls


into the this category. I am aware that living in Midle- ton and being a parent of two children attending a school some five miles from the proposed site makes it easy for the ‘NIMBY’ label to be used to dismiss my ar- guments, but I’ll give it a go anyway. Cork is Ireland’s second


city with Dublin being the largest. Dublin is bursting at the seams and is hardly a shining light for sustainable development. Dublin


has


a growing housing crisis as well as major traffic prob- lems on a scale that far out- strips the rest of the coun- try. Much like


its growth


rate. This situation can only be helped by more balanced national growth. Repeating Dublin’s mistakes isn’t answer


the though. Simply


shifting uncontrolled, undi- rected growth to other cities


will only lead to the same problems on a wider geo- graphical stage. We need to take an eyes open approach. Being (I think at least) a


naturalised Corkonian is a source of pride for me and I’m very happy that my three children will grow up here. Cork has a lot going for it and will likely grow strongly in the


coming


years. The level and sustain- ability of this growth has yet to be determined. There is much to do to ensure Cork realises its potential. Big thinking will be re-


quired. The reorganisation of the City and County Councils is a step in that di- rection. The new structure has the potential to turbo charge


inbound tourism


and see Cork realise its po- tential as a first class des- tination


provided energy


and funds are pumped into tourism. The planned event centre (if it ever gets built) can feed into this also. Cork Harbour can be the focal point for growth.


The ongoing cleanup of the toxic waste left by the Irish Steel plant at Haulbowline Island (albeit at a slower than promised pace) is vi- tally important. Millions of Euro has been spent on a marine college and clean energy research cen- tres. Modern clean energy exploration and a unique maritime heritage


at the


world’s second largest nat- ural harbour. And let’s not forget Cork Harbour is also home to Europe’s leading tourist attraction, Spike Is- land. Port of Cork is thriving and will see a 30% growth in cruise business in 2018. They are also developing an 80 million euro Cork Container Terminal in Rin- gaskiddy. As Port of Cork continues to grow and ex- pand in future years, there will undoubtedly be syn- ergies with other forms of transport and this could add to the continuous growth Cork Airport has seen in re- cent years. A rising tide and all that. All the ingredients are here. With a little


bit of


vision and stakeholder communication leading to everbody pulling in the same direction, Cork could achieve


its potential with


15


Cork Harbour leading the way. Putting an incinerator


in Cork harbour makes no sense at all when viewed in this context. Does anybody really think that we can project a modern, clean at- tractive image of Cork and Cork Harbour to the world when we stick an Incinera- tor in the middle of it? It’s very hard to understand An Bord Pleanala’s decision. Stopping the incinerator now will be difficult. Efforts


in this regard are being led by CHASE (Cork Har- bour Alliance for a Safe Environment). They have been actively opposing this project for seventeen years. The options now are limit- ed to a Judicial Review of An Bord Pleanala’s decision before the High Court. The estimated cost of this is be- tween one hundred and fifty and two hundred thousand euros. Raising that kind of money is extremely difficult. Throw in a deadline of 19


July and it’s even harder. Visit


chasecorkharbour.


com to donate and make a difference while we have the chance. Let’s stand up and take control of our future. Eric Nolan is a father of


three living in Midleton. He is the Labour Party’s Local Area Representative for Cork East/Midleton Lo- cal Election area. You can learn more on Facebook EricNolanLabour or Twit- ter @ericnolanlab .


Standing4Women Peaceful Protest Took Place Outside Midleton Court House by CLAUDIA SHANHAN O’KEEEFFE


• Organisers; Alicia Kelly and Carol Murray.


• Organisers and supporters pictured outside Midleton Court House on Friday last.


• Lola Twomey with a big message. @eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal eastcorkjournal Tel: 021 463 8000 • Email: info@eastcorkjournal.ie • Web: www.eastcorkjournal.ie


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