Watch: Noel Sweeney’s video about Dursey cable car for Tripe + Drisheen above, filmed last December.
Locals have been reacting to the news that plans for a €10m visitor centre at Dursey Island in West Cork have been halted and that the planned cable car upgrade is now uncertain.
Permission for an upgraded cable car capable of carrying 650 people per hour, plus a visitor’s centre on the island, which has just two permanent residents and 15 houses in regular use, was applied for by Cork County Council in 2019 to An Bórd Pleanála (ABP), who granted permission.
“Mass tourism”
However the board’s decision was successfully challenged by Friends of The Irish Environment (FIE) by way of judicial review. FIE claimed any such development would have adverse effects on local wildlife and would lead to “mass tourism” on the island, an important habitat for bird life.
ABP announced Monday at the High Court that they were conceding to FIE.
Rosarie O’Neill is a Dursey Island native born on the island, who divides her time between Dursey and Eyeries. Like many residents in the area, she believes the €10m upgrade would be positive for the area. She told Tripe + Drisheen that news of the decision was “sad.”
“What can you say and do, when you have people objecting to jobs in the area?” Ms O’Neill said. “There would be jobs in the area, and we need people to stay here in the area, and we need young people.”
Meanwhile, the original cable car is also out of use due to storm damage.
Ireland’s only cable car
Ireland’s only cable car has operated at Dursey Island for over 50 years. You can read Tripe + Drisheen’s Long Read on it here:
The old cable car was taken out of use last March following storm damage and an interim ferry service was provided at the last minute by Cork County Council. It was initially planned that the old cable car would be out of use for nine months.
It’s Ms O’Neill’s understanding that repairs to the old cable car will continue regardless of the planning process and she hopes that the larger cable car and visitor centre will ultimately go ahead in some form.
She says the future of the island, which has suffered slow population decline over the past century, depends on reinstating the cable car service.
“Our homes on the island are no good to us if we don’t have a cable car going out there,” she said.
“We’re getting the cable car repaired at the moment, so that's a good sign. But if the bigger job comes along in a couple of years’ time, well, all the better for everybody. It would be great if it went ahead, even at a smaller scale.”
It is expected that An Bord Pleanála will ask the courts to remit the planning application for the upgraded cable car and visitor’s centre for fresh consideration.
Tony Lowes of Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), in Eyeries, said that while the group welcomed the quashing of ABP’s decision, they believed it would be unjust for the courts to return the planning application to ABP.
“If the court remits it to An Bord Pleanála, they can work on their decision and change whatever it was they think they did wrong, without starting the whole thing again,” Mr Lowes said. “That is to say, there won’t be a new inspector's report into the application. They will just fiddle with the wording, to see if they can find a way of getting around the decision that was quashed.”
Dursey Cable Car upgrade plans rejected