A committee meeting will be held in the coming days regarding the future of the Moresby Buoy, as the local authority moved to assure people that it was ‘never their intention’ not to return the memorial to the Moresby Disaster to its home in Abbeyside.

Councillors were told at the December meeting of the Dungarvan / Lismore District of Waterford Council that the landmark memorial was beyond repair.

A statement from Waterford Council in the past week confirmed that the lower part of the buoy is deemed to be beyond repair with works now currently being undertaken by Coffey Engineering.

“The buoy has been examined by Dungarvan firm, Coffey Engineering Ltd., who have confirmed that the floating substructure is beyond repair.  Waterford City and County Council is currently examining the option of reconstructing the buoy and cost of same.  The Council has been in discussion with representatives of the former Abbeyside Pattern Committee who were responsible for the restoration of the buoy in 1988.”

Two motions were submitted by Cllr. Damien Geoghegan (Fine Gael) and Cllr. Thomas Phelan (Labour) seeking for the reinstatement of the buoy and appropriate consultation with locals as part of the process, at this month’s meeting of the Dungarvan / Lismore District of Waterford City & County Council – with both motions unanimously agreed upon by the 9 councillors present.

‘Public commentary’

A lengthy discussion was held regarding the Moresby Buoy toward the end of the meeting, where almost all representatives noted the level of public discontent which was caused by its’ removal as part of recent sea wall repair works.

The first motion was tabled by Cllr. Geoghegan. He stressed the importance of having the right people on board with regard to future discussions.

“There’s been a lot of talk – a lot of public comment, in relation to the matter. I don’t think it’s important to get that public comment, to get the discussion going, but at the same time, that won’t solve the problem. I do think if we get the right people around the table to discuss the issue, and move it forward, I think that’s the way to go. We should involve councillors, and relevant officials with the necessary expertise.”

The lower part of the Moresby Buoy which has been deemed beyond repair by a local engineering firm.

Cllr. Thomas Phelan said that both motions, with his calling for an overall contingency plan for the Moresby Park area, stood upon their own merits.

“I commend Cllr. Geoghegan’s motion dealing with the Moresby Buoy, specifically. My own motion expands upon that but I think they do align and compliment each other. I think that anything that we can do in response to the public concern that has been raised, that shows that we are listening, is only for the good. I look forward to us resolving this issue to the satisfaction of people, while giving them an opportunity to have their voice heard.”

‘A pity’

Some councillors noted that it was ‘a pity’ that the commentary and situation had been allowed to erupt to this point.

Cllr. John Pratt (Labour) said that he would support a meeting, but lamented how the situation had been allowed to boil over during the festive period.

“It’s a pity that it had to come to this and that discussions weren’t had prior to the removal of the Moresby Buoy. We can’t go over old ground, and maybe it didn’t need to go to where it has gone to. I do believe that it needs to be repaired, replaced – whatever, and if that entails having a meeting to discuss the same, then I would be more than willing to be a part of that.”

Cllr. Conor McGuinness (Sinn Fein) says a ‘heads-up’ from the Council about removing the memorial would have been welcome.

“I just think its one of those things where a little bit of sensitivity, and thoughtfulness, could have gone a long way. That said, we are where we are. The buoy is in situ. We still have it. It is in need of repair. I would like to see it repaired, I think it needs to be replaced and looked after – and the heritage needs to be part and parcel of it. Cllr. Phelan’s motion is a very good one.”

‘Never the intention’

Cllr. James Tobin (Fianna Fail) while in agreement with the motions, said a lot of ‘unnecessary hysteria’ had been caused. He noted that from what he had gathered at the December meeting, it was never the intention of Waterford Council to permanently remove the Moresby Buoy.

“I must have been listening to the wrong meeting in December because I believe it was never the intention of the Council not to replace the Moresby Buoy. It was taken away, because it was in poor repair but nobody ever said that it wasn’t going to be replaced – unless I was at the wrong meeting? It was always, in my opinion, and I believe, in the opinion of a lot of people, that it was going to be replaced. The hysteria that started, I believe, was misjudged. I couldn’t take from the last meeting that anybody ever said that the Moresby wasn’t going to be replaced.”

This view of the saga was cemented by the Waterford Council officials, who outlined why they made their much-criticised decisions regarding the displacement of the Buoy.

Senior Executive Officer for Environment, Raymond Moloney, noted the comments of Cllr. Tobin and acknowledged that it was never said that the Moresby would not be replaced in some capacity were the existing structure beyond reversible repair.

He noted the ‘extreme difficulty’ in removing the Moresby Buoy from the Causeway and that the top half and bottom half were subsequently removed. While he acknowledged that he is not an engineer, Mr. Moloney says it was clear to see that the structure was in a poor condition.

Visible damage to the lower part of the Moresby Buoy.

“The buoy did appear to be in poor condition and we were unable to attach fixing eyes to it to enable it to be removed safely from the site. The top half of the buoy had already been removed at that stage and the substructure was then removed to the Civic Amenity site. Now, some people have said that because it was at the Civic Amenity site, that it had been discarded: nothing could be further from the truth.”

Initial structure

Mr. Moloney continued to note that the Civic Amenity site in Dungarvan is often used to store items which take up capacity in the local depot.

“We often use that area, where we have space, to store large objects so that they don’t take up room in the depot. It was always our intention to replace the Moresby Buoy, whether that would be the actual Moresby Buoy, a replica Moresby Buoy – I went through this at last month’s meeting – I mentioned a full-scale model, a smaller scale model or even a sculptural piece. What we have to bear in mind is what people can see or what people have been looking at for the past 30 years, and particularly the lower portion of the Moresby Buoy, that is actually a shell around the original Moresby Buoy.”

It was outlined how the original Moresby Buoy is encased in a shell and that the said shell is rusting from the inside out.

Mr. Moloney says that the original Moresby Buoy, which is within that shell, is in a worse condition. The upper frame of the buoy, has also had an additional frame built around it for structural support.

Cost of repair

The monument is now set to be independently inspected, with a local engineering firm, Coffey Engineering, to revert back to the local authority on the cost of repair / replacement.

The local firm confirmed the view that the structure was ‘beyond repair’ last Thursday, the same day in which Waterford Council made the statement confirming such.

Director of Services, Kieran Kehoe and Mr. Moloney both agreed that they would be happy to facilitate a meeting regarding the future of the Moresby Buoy.

Mr. Kehoe moved to exemplify that the Buoy had not been ‘discarded’ or ‘disrespected’ despite some views which were aired during the public backlash on social media.

Part of the Moresby Buoy which is currently at the Civic Amenity site in Dungarvan.

“Some commentary, especially online, suggested that the Council had in some way shown disrespect to the heritage. I have to be quite categorical here – it’s the complete opposite. In the summer of last year, Raymond Moloney brought me out to show me the state of the Moresby Buoy. It was falling apart where it was. It was absolutely lethal, actually, if you want to be honest about it. Open holes with rusted steel. If a child was to put their hand in there, at the main landing point of the Greenway into our town, we would have been a laughing stock, to be honest with you.”

A meeting comprised of Council officials, local representatives and the members of the former Abbeyside Pattern Committee as well as delegates from the County Museum is now set to be facilitated in order to bring the saga to an end and move toward the restoration of the Moresby Buoy.

It has been agreed that the said committee meeting will take place this week.