ARAN ISLANDERS travelled in force to Galway yesterday to voice their opposition to a new levy on ferry travel.
Some 250 residents of the largest of the three islands, Inis Mór, who staged a protest outside Galway County Council headquarters, have described the levy as “discriminatory” .
The new charge is intended to pay for the running costs of a €40 million harbour, constructed several years ago at Cill Rónáin on Inis Mór.
Galway county councillors were asked to vote on the proposal last night, scheduled as one of the last items on a packed council agenda.
Inis Mór co-op manager Cathy Ní Ghoill explained that the residents had no issue with paying their share of State levies, as in tax, value added tax, the health levy and household charges.
However, they objected in principle to a new charge which would effectively increase the costs of living offshore – and would, in time, be extended to other offshore communities if approved, in their view. “We pay 20 per cent more on average for everything as it is,” Inis Mór resident Maggie Seoighe explained outside Galway County Hall.
“For example, I wanted to order 1,000 litres of home heating fuel last week, and I was quoted €1,020. The same fill would cost me €820–€845 if I was living on the mainland,” she said. “We don’t want something for nothing, but this is a step too far.
“You look at Eyre Square in Galway, which cost €15 million. Galway residents are not asked to pay one euro every time they walk through to subsidise its running costs, but we are being asked to do this every time we cross the bay to subsidise the new harbour.”
Last week, Aran Ferries, the island’s sole passenger ferry operator, won a High Court challenge which effectively rules out introducing an additional levy on the use of Ros a Mhíl harbour.
The fisheries and ferry harbour is run by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries on behalf of the State. The ferry company is also opposed to the levy still proposed for maintenance at Cill Rónáin, which would add to the cost of passenger tickets.
The charge involves an additional €2 on return tickets to and from Inis Mór for tourists – with €1.20 going to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and 80 cent to Galway County Council.
Inis Mór residents, who qualify for subsidised ferry travel, would pay an extra €1.60 on a return trip – €1.20 to agriculture and fisheries, and 40 cent to the council.
