merrion street

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney T.D., announced details of the timetable for a two and a half year programme of core remediation works at Haulbowline Island which will see the remediation of the Island completed by mid 2018 at a meeting of the Haulbowline Remediation Project Stakeholders group today (8th Jan 2015). This follows a Government decision to provide a total of €61,000,000 to remediate the location on a “whole of Island basis”, incorporating both the East and South tips and including a ground level remediation of the former ISPAT/Irish Steel factory site.
At today’s meeting the Minister outlined the elements involved in the remediation timetable, the Minister stated, “These works, which are part of the Government’s wider commitment to Cork Harbour will, when completed, lead to the permanent transformation of the Island and provide significant potential for development in the coming years. The remediation project will see the former waste site at the East Tip become a large public amenity park and a ground level remediation of the former factory site, opening up significant development possibilities for this key strategic location, already the permanent location of the Irish Naval Service. These complex remediation works which have been devised by Cork County Council who are acting as agents of my own Department in this project, will provide significant employment (for the duration of the works) and eventually ensure that the historic Island of Haulbowline will have a very bright future at the centre of Ireland’s existing dedicated maritime cluster in Cork Harbour”.
Minister Coveney also outlined that he is actively considering the repair of three large cut stone buildings adjacent to the former ISPAT/Irish Steel factory. The Minister said “These three landmark buildings which were part of the old Naval Base and were also office accommodation for the steelworks have fallen into disrepair over the years. To prevent further deterioration of these impressive historic buildings I have asked my officials to bring forward immediate proposals for consideration by the Government on how to weatherproof the structures and undertake necessary measures to safeguard these heritage assets for future generations.”

Note for Editors: The Government approved a general proposal to enable the clean-up of the East Tip on Haulbowline Island in 2011 which had been the focus of an ECJ judgement. Cork County Council is acting as agent of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the remediation of the site. A further Government decision approved a total package of €61m to fully remediate the site on a whole of Island basis incorporating the East and South tips and former steelworks factory site. Key milestones of the remediation project were the successful planning and waste license applications approved in 2014 and the construction of a fully remediated bridge from the mainland to the Island (completed in May 2015) which incorporated a new upgraded roadway (completed in July 2015). These key infrastructural elements now enable the commencement (Subject to Contract) of the core clean up phase which will incorporate a public amenity park on the site of the former East tip site. Among the elements involved in this complex phase of works will be; processing and profiling of existing slag material, construction of a perimeter engineered structure (PES), fencing, site clearance, demolition and enabling works, construction of an access road from the new bridge to the East tip and ground level remediation of the former steelworks site. Haulbowline Island is located within Cork Harbour, between Cobh to the north and Ringaskiddy to the south. The East Tip contains approximately 650,000m3 of steelworks waste that was deposited on a sand spit over a 40 year period. The demolition of the former steelworks has also left a large site in the centre of the island that is unusable pending remediation. Access to the Island by road is from Ringaskiddy via bridges which transverse Rocky Island.