There is a point at which patience ceases to be a virtue and becomes a farce. That point, for the people of Newport, has been well and truly passed.
Newport, a jewel on the Mayo coast, brimming with potential for tourism, water sports, and economic revival, is being robbed of its future because of bureaucratic inertia. At the centre of this debacle lies the long-awaited Wastewater Treatment Plant—a critical piece of infrastructure needed to protect our waters, fish stocks, local health, and future generations.
Newport, a jewel on the Mayo coast, brimming with potential for tourism, water sports, and economic revival, is being robbed of its future because of bureaucratic inertia. At the centre of this debacle lies the long-awaited Wastewater Treatment Plant—a critical piece of infrastructure needed to protect our waters, fish stocks, local health, and future generations.
Yesterday, I met again with the Newport Wastewater Committee, Business Committee, Tidy Towns, and concerned residents to provide clarity on where we stand—and the reality is grim. In 2022, Uisce Éireann submitted a foreshore licence so we could get on with surveying the coastline to determine the best outfall location for the wastewater plant. Then in 2023, MARA was established, and the licensing system changed overnight. The foreshore licence became obsolete, and Uisce Éireann had to submit a new Maritime Usage Licence (MUL) in December 2024.
Despite a statutory 30-day timeframe, we have now gone well over 200 days as MARA has yet to even assess this application, leaving the people of Newport in limbo while fish stocks are damaged daily and wastewater issues continue.
I have raised this repeatedly with the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and Minister Cummins, and while polite nods are all well and good, they won’t clear the waters of Newport Bay or protect the livelihoods depending on them. It is nothing short of absurd after years of waiting that after yesterday’s meeting with MARA and Uisce Éireann, the MUL application for Newport’s wastewater plant hasn’t even made it onto their agenda. This is going on some time now, and even as recently as yesterday, the most pressing issue for Newport has still not been discussed.
To be crystal clear: without this MUL, the Wastewater Treatment Plant cannot proceed. We need the license to deploy Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers to measure wave and current velocities and identify the optimal outfall location. While I welcome the recent Marine Institute study which will be useful to build hydrodynamic models, we are proceeding at risk without the necessary MUL data to verify it fully.
I am calling on Minister John Cummuns to intervene and ensure MARA comply with their statutory deadlines. It’s high time MARA gets its act together and grants the MUL application. This will allow Eisce Éireann to get the survey work underway and bring the project to the next stage – stage 3. The people of Newport are not asking for luxuries—they are asking for the basic infrastructure they deserve to protect their community, their coastline, and their children’s futures.
