#WicklowHarbour - Progress is being made in development works at Wicklow Harbour, a recent town council meeting heard.

According to the Wicklow Times on 13 May, Wicklow Town Council director of services Sean Quirke gave the lie of the land with respect to the harbour development as of the end of April.

Quirke reported that developer Sisk - which is also responsible for works currently on hold at Greystones Harbour - said planning for the first stage of construction was under way, as were arrangements for the appointment of a building partner.

Dredging and disposal works in the harbour itself are in progress, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, while the storm-damaged beach is under repair and access to the breakwater is scheduled to open shortly.

Meanwhile, there have been discussions with the resident sailing and ridge angling clubs over plans for their new clubhouse facilities.

It's being proposed that Sisk would take over the development of the new clubhouses, with a commitment to completing their new facilities in tandem with the rest of the harbour plaza scheme, while offering the clubs temporary accommodation in the interim.

In addition, a site investigation was completed for the proposed new coastguard station, a long-awaited addition to Wicklow's harbour - and the delay of which was bemoaned by Cllr Tom Fortune.

#Greystones - Wickow-East Carlow TD Simon Harris is supporting calls for 'meaningful engagement' over the development of Greystones Harbour, with works by developer Sisk currently on hold.

According to a recent edition of the Wicklow Times, the Dáil deputy wrote to the county manager to request that elements of the contract for the harbour scheme be made public so that residents "can see exactly what obligations the contract places on the developer and on the council" in the event of a future economic downturn.

Deputy Harris said it is "really important that the residents of Greystones and their public representatives can see this information so we can all play our part in making constructive suggestions in the interest of the community."

Elsewhere in Wicklow, draft bye laws for Wicklow Harbour are currently on display to the public for consultation until 5pm on Tuesday 29 April.

As the Wicklow Times reported recently, Cllr Kathleen Kelleher has urged people to read over the proposals carefully as plans for new construction in the harbour approach the early stages.

Afloat.ie previously reported on dredging and disposal works in the harbour that were scheduled to begin last Thursday 10 April, the first time the harbour has been dredged since 1998.

Meanwhile, works to address recent storm damage have been underway since last month, with some 6,000 cubic metres beach nourishment set to be placed on the north by the end of April.

Wicklow Town Council also heard in the latest harbour progress report on 25 March that work on a pedestrian access route to the north breakwater is ongoing, while developer Sispar says that legal due diligence had delayed the appointment of a construction partner for the harbour scheme, but was expected to be finalised in the coming days.

#MarineNotice - The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) has been advised that dredging and disposal works will commence in Wicklow Harbour (52° 58.9’N, 006° 02.1’W) on Thursday 10 April 2014 and will continue for a period of approximately 10 weeks.

The work will include dredging of the harbour and disposal of the dredged material at a designated dumping site.

The disposal site will be positioned 1.5km north-east of the harbour’s east pier, and the disposing of the material will be carried out by the vessel Jenny T (Call sign EIMY6).

All vessels in this area should proceed with extreme caution, reduce speed to a minimum and keep a close lookout for obstructions in the vicinity of the works.

#RNLI - Kilmore Quay RNLI has assisted a fisherman after his boat got into difficulty off the Wexford coast, while Wicklow RNLI attended to a fishing boat in trouble south of Wicklow Harbour.

The Kilmore Quay all-weather lifeboat was requested to launch at 9.04am on Monday morning (29 July) to go to the assistance of a local lobster boat with one person on board,

The fishing boat had fouled its propeller while hauling pots a mile to the south-east of the Little Saltee Island.



Weather conditions at the time were blowing a light southerly breeze and there was good visibility.

When the lifeboat arrived on scene, a tow was set up and the vessel was brought safely to the harbour at Kilmore Quay.

Shortly afterwards, Wicklow RNLI launched at 9.30am in response to a call for assistance from a fishing vessel in difficulties six miles south of Wicklow Harbour.

The vessel with three crew was fishing north of Brittas Bay beach when a rope got fouled in the propeller and she lost steering. The skipper contacted the coastguard for assistance.



Wicklow town's lifeboat, under the command of coxswain Nick Keogh, located the vessel drifting close to the Wolf Rock 20 minutes after launching.

A towline was quickly established and the stricken vessel was towed back to Wicklow Harbour, where she was secured safely alongside the East Pier at 10.40am.



The crew on the call out were coxswain Nick Keogh, mechanic Brendan Copeland, Tommy McAulay, Kevin Rahill, Carol Flahive, Paul Sillery and Graham Fitzgerald.

Apart from the mural of the trawler (click HERE) there are a wide variety of vessels represented from general cargo-ships and the inclusion of STV Asgard II and the World's last ocean-going paddle-steamer P.S. Waverley. These vessels have too berthed alongside the adorned eastern breakwater where spectators flock to see the start of the biennial Round Ireland Yacht Race which was held last year.

The photo of the trawler was taken on a previous call at the Packet Quay, Wicklow and not Arklow as stated. The Packet Pier is the most used commercial quay in the Co. Wicklow port, where timber and scrap-metal cargoes are relatively common. For example the Arklow Rebel which loaded scrap-metal bound for Liverpool, to read more click HERE.

The cargoship Arklow Rebel (2,999 gross tonnes) which loaded scrap metal in Wicklow Port today, is believed to be the largest Arklow Shipping Ltd vessel to dock in the east coast port, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 7-year old Dutch-built vessel arrived in ballast from Warrenpoint Co. Down around 01.30hrs to berth alongside the town's south quays at the Packet Quay.

Throughout this afternoon there was a steady stream of lorries laden with the scrap-metal which was loaded into the ship's hull by a quayside grabber. Upon completion of loading, the distinctive green hulled Arklow Rebel departed this evening bound for Liverpool.

She is one of nine 'R'class series of ships built by the Dutch shipyard of Barkmeijer Stroobos B.V. and has the following dimensions (90m length X 12m breath X 4m draft). For further vessel characteristics click HERE.

The Irish-flagged vessel is registered at the neighbouring port of Arklow to the south and is part of a fleet of over 40 ships managed by the Tyrrell family.

During the boom years Wicklow port was particularly busy with Scandinavian imports of bundled packaged timber and plasterboard for the construction industry.

The tidal port at the mouth of the River Leitrim also specialises in paper, lead, steel and dry bulk cargoes, principally coal in addition to other general and heavy-lift project cargoes.

For many years the issue of road traffic congestion was finally solved when the Wicklow Port Access and Town Relief Road Scheme was completed in April of last year.

The port access road (1.6km) runs between the Rathnew Road to The Murrough via a bridge that crosses the Broadlough Estuary and over the Dublin-Rosslare railway line.

Wicklow RNLI inshore lifeboat was called into action shortly before 2pm yesterday afternoon (Saturday 30th October 2010) when two people got into difficulties while on a jet ski off Wicklow harbour.

The Coast Guard were alerted after vigilant members of the public spotted a man waving for help in the water off the East pier.
The lifeboat quickly located the 2 people a few hundred metres off Wicklow harbour, a young girl was taken onto the lifeboat and her father was taken from the water by the lifeboat crew, he was unable to get back onboard the jet ski after it overturned, but had managed to lift the young girl back onto the Jet ski until help arrived.
The lifeboat crew wrapped the young girl in a blanket to keep her warm as she had spent time in the cold water in light clothing. The father and daughter were taken back to Wicklow harbour and brought ashore cold and shaken but unharmed.

The lifeboat crew on this occasion were Lisa O Leary, John Docherty and Brian Sinnott.

Yesterday's rescue of Jetskiers off Wicklow harbour. Photo: Tommy Dover

Marine Warnings