This article is from page 24 of the 2008-10-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 24 JPG
SHANNON Development has de- fended its record in developing in- dustry on the northern bank of the Nerve mece rae
The body was responding to com- ments made at a special meeting of Kilrush Town Council and the Kilrush members of Clare County SSE EK ics
During the course of the meeting, Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said Shannon De- velopment had continued to promote
and sell the southern half of the estu- ary by “sterilising the north side”.
“They were aided and abetted by the Shannon Ports Authority whose only interest was to collect contribu- tions at Moneypoint,’ he said.
“It is industry in the south and birds in the north,” he told the meeting.
A spokesperson for Shannon De- velopment said that the Shannon Free Zone is close to the estuary on the Clare side and the company was also responsible for the Kilrush Creek Marina and its development.
On the southern half of the estuary the semi-state body inherited a large parcel of land in Ballylongford from the IDA.
“This was a strategic natural site with deep waters,’ said the spokes- ea Ree
Half of that site is now part of a three-year building project to con- struct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal.
Once the €400 million project in Tarbert and Ballylongford is up and running the natural gas will
be pumped from tankers to storage tanks, then converted to natural gas before being piped to end users.
The terminal will include a ma- rine berth, jetty and secure mooring, LNG offloading facilities, storage tanks, and vaporisers to turn LNG from a liquid back into a gas.
The gas will then be connected up to the national gas grid.
The terminal will be built on 281 of the 600-acre land bank owned by the state for large-scale maritime related industry.
Shannon Development also owns approximately 200 acres in Askea- ton on the road to Foynes but again like the majority of land it is respon- sible for on the northern side this is also land-locked.
“We would be keen to support any development in west Clare. We helped with the development of La- basheeda and Kildysert Piers n the 1990s and the moorings in Carri- gaholt although that was about ten years ago,’ the Shannon Develop- ment spokesperson said.