Skibbereen Town Manager Moira Murrell through Town Engineer, James Dwyer have given RIPPLE permission to go ahead with development of the Chapel Quay area as the first positive steps in the restoration of the quays of the town. For those that may be unfamiliar with the exact location of the Chapel Quay, it is located behind the Library (old Bishop Kelly Memorial institute, Technical School) at North Street.

The RIPPLE committee have agreed that the Chapel Quay should be restored to its original appearance in the early nineteen hundreds as per photos in our photo gallery on this site. Our Engineering Consultants, Cronin Miller, also feel that this would be more appropriate than to put a modern structure in its place. We will in the coming weeks, apply for whatever planning permissions are required in order to carry out this restoration which will have to take modern health and safety considerations into account and also regulations governing certain marine matters.

The committee are very grateful that we have been given permission to go ahead with this as we have all been frustrated by an inability to progress this type of development up to now. We are also delighted to see that the long awaited sewerage system for the town is also well underway and that the return of the River Ilen and Caol Stream to pristine condition is a little nearer as a result. The only downside is that the Marsh area, where we hope to develop walkways and cyclepaths in the future is currently out of bounds due to the fact that Ward and Burke, the contractors are using the entire area as their base in addition to many of the component structures of the sewerage system are located there.

Now, more than ever, RIPPLE is in need of funds to progress our plans and appeal to you to subscribe to this work through our Pay Pal facility on the home page. Any and every donation big or small, will be greatly appreciated.