Plan to shut Coast Guard station criticised

Ceann Comhairle and Kerry South TD John O'Donoghue has severely criticised proposals to close the Valentia Coast Guard station. He said the decision was a reversal of the Government's decentralisation policy and was "unjust and anti-rural".

His remarks, reported in the Kerryman were contained in a letter written on headed paper from the office of the Ceann Comhairle to Noel Dempsey.

Mr O'Donoghue said that the decision to close the Valentia and Malin Head Coast Guard stations had nothing to do with improving services. If Valentia were to close, it would be a devastating blow for the area, he added.

His remarks were echoed by his brother, Paul O'Donoghue, a councillor. He said arguments about poor telecommunications and unreliable electricity supply on Valentia were easily dismissed.

"There has been one outage of electricity in two years and that was planned," he said. Eircom would also carry out any necessary upgrading of the telecommunications service. The 17 staff on Valentia had a body of knowledge that would be a huge loss to the marine community.

Mr O'Donoghue is coming under huge pressure to retain the Coast Guard service which goes back to 1914. In recent years, the closure of the turf-burning electricity station near Caherciveen and the sale of the Great Southern hotels, three of which are in his constituency, has led to criticism.

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times