Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, has announced the allocation of €9 million to Killybegs Fishery Harbour Centre, as part of a wider €35 million investment in Ireland’s six state-owned Fishery Harbour Centres.
Killybegs, Ros an Mhíl, An Daingean, Castletownbere, Dunmore East and Howth will all receive funding through the Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme.
€5.5 million of the funding for Killybegs will be allocated to advance the Smooth Point project, a pier extension that is taking place at the harbour currently.
‘The facilities at our Fishery Harbour Centres are critical to the seafood industry and it is important to that we continue to modernise and innovate in the services they provide. This increased investment demonstrates this Government’s serious commitment to supporting the fishing industry and rural coastal communities,’ Minister McConalogue said.
‘The investment underpins the emphasis in Food Vision 2030 on supporting primary producers. This investment of over €9m in Killybegs this year is an important investment for the Killybegs community and for County Donegal to maintain its standing as a major marine infrastructure county.’
He commented that in 2020 just under 90% of all fish landed into Ireland arrived at the Fishery Harbour Centres. In that same year, BIM valued the Irish seafood industry at €1069bn GDP.
‘With almost 3000 people directly employed in fisheries and a further 13,500 employed either directly or indirectly across the seafood sector, these investments will contribute to maintaining existing jobs and provide the scope to create employment opportunities,’ he said.
‘Paired with the rollout of the recommendations of the Seafood Sector Task Force, I hope this announcement sends a strong signal that we are committed to supporting and developing the sector to be resilient to the challenge of adjusting to the impact of Brexit.’
