PLASSEY PICNIC AND REGATTA

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday July 17, 2002 22:14 by Nancy Serrano

On Sunday the 21st of July, a picnic is being held at the riverside at Plassey from 2-6 PM. The aim of this picnic is primarily to enjoy this beautiful recreational amenity.

There will be boat rides, tree walks, face painting, bird watching, a barbeque, tug-o-wars, music and much more! We are also inviting people to revive the old Plassey Regatta on the day! So bring all your friends and family. There will be a marquee so rain or shine, we’ll be fine! We’ve put a good word in with the man above... so the weather should be grand!

This will also be a chance for citizens of Limerick who have enjoyed Plassey throughout the years to voice their objection to the planned development of the area by the University of Limerick. Although this development was granted permission from An Bórd Pleanála in May 2002, many locals along with the UL Environmental Society were outraged by this decision. The PROTECT PLASSEY CAMPAIGN are at present considering taking legal action on legitimate grounds that this development is in breach of the EU habitats directive. A public meeting is being held in Halla Íde on Thomas St., on Thursday the 11th of July at 8PM to discuss this and other events the campaign group is organising. Everyone is welcome to attend.

The building of a 5-storey student village on a flood plain could pose a very serious threat of flooding to homes downstream from Plassey. The 3-year construction phase of the bridge will damage the angling industry on which many tourist businesses along the upper Shannon heavily rely. Mark O’Connor, a spokesperson for the campaign said, “UL’s idea to build this bridge, along with a 150 metre road through a Special Area of Conservation, and the student village on a flood plain is about as good as their idea some years ago to move Kilmurry Church brick by brick into the then new Kilmurry student village, but thankfully were denied permission!”

UL wishes to make the river Shannon the centre of its campus. The PROTECT PLASSEY CAMPAIGN believes that UL needs to rethink its choice of expansion of its campus. Many alternatives were never seriously considered, such as locating its playing pitches on its land on the Clare side. UL would then have the option of expanding to the East on its current playing pitch areas. UL’s planned expansion on the Clare side plans to cater for a new nurses college. As this will be UL’s first college of medicine, there is no reason why UL could not locate this facility off campus closer to one of Limerick’s hospitals.

With the expansion of the city planned over the next few years, a resource such as the beautiful river walkway and cycle path from the Abbey bridge all the way out to Annacotty, Castleconnell and Killaloe will be priceless. Every effort should be made now to conserve it, for future generations to enjoy.

Peter Sweetman, member of Friends of the Irish Environment commented, “On a European level, a natural resource like Plassey is very rare. The EU habitats directive is there to protect species like the otter and corncrake from extinction. Ireland has benefited over the years from European grants. It should therefore face up to its environmental responsibilities according to EU legislation.”