Historic lobster ponds near Castletownbere filled with rubble

Thousands of tonnes of building rubble have been dumped on historic lobster ponds on the Beara Peninsula.

The lobster ponds, located just outside Castletowbere, were large concrete tidal enclosures built in the last century to hold lobsters during the year for the lucrative Christmas French market.

Before and after photographs taken by locally-based Friends of the Irish Environmentshow the structure now almost entirely filled with rubble, including construction materials. The material was also dumped beyond the ponds, on the beach and into Berehaven Bay.

Castletowbere harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world and is formed by Dinish Island to the south, hosting fisheries infrastructure and processing activity, and the town of Castletownbere to the north.

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Minister for the Marine Michael Creed officially opened a new harbour administration building in Castletownbere last year and inspected progress on a €23.5 million, 216m-long fishing quay extension project and associated works on Dinish Island as part of Project Ireland 2040.

The discovery of the dumped rubble in the area came as the Irish Farmers’ Association called for “urgent action” to address increased dumping, citing “builders’ rubble” as a particular cause for concern. Farmers are lobbying for changes in the waste-management laws to reduce illegal dumping.

Tony Lowes, a director of Friends of the Irish Environment, said the scale of dumping at the lobster ponds is breathtaking. He said there had been “no enforcement and a scoff-law attitude – with residents too scared to speak out publicly”.

Mr Lowes said Friends of the Irish Environment was alerted to the dumping by an anonymous local, who had said the activities and the operator were well known locally.

Mr Lowes said the organisation had reported the matter to Cork County Council, who had passed it to on area planner, and to the Castletwonbere harbourmaster, under whose jurisdiction the foreshore falls within.

“The harbour master responded more quickly than any other agency we have ever approached,” said Mr Lowes.

A council spokesman also confirmed dumping of rubble on Berehaven Bay is being investigated.