FOLLOWING the destruction of the Horse Rock lighthouse during Storm Darwin, Pallaskenry farmer and barrister Emmet O’Brien has called for Limerick County Council, the Department of Agriculture and the OPW to make funding available for improvement of flood defences and local piers.
A member of Fianna Fail’s National Executive since 2012, Mr O’Brien believes Limerick County Council together with the OPW need to invest more money and resources into improving banks, flood defences and sluices.
He also lamented the destruction of the Horse Rock lighthouse, which was visible from Ringmoylan Pier in Pallaskenry. Built around 1869, it was abandoned as a navigation aid in the 1950s when shipping was switched from the south channel of the Shannon to the north channel. A landmark on the Shannon Estuary for 145 years, the wooden structure was swept away in Storm Darwin.
“Not only was it a landmark on the Shannon but the last keepers were locals. That it lasted for so long was a testament to the men who built it. It was a great source of protection to local fishermen from Ballysteen and Pallaskenry and turf boats coming from West Clare. We are very bad at persevering our heritage and it’s another piece of history gone,” he said.
“I’ve called on local councillors since at least 2007 to improve Ringmoylan Pier and these appeals have continuously fallen on deaf ears. With a new local authority after the May elections, we need new voices to meet the needs of the people of Adare and Rathkeale,” he said.
