Balbriggan Seal Sanctuary.

Sparky84

Does anybody in their right mind really think that we need this. Hospital wards being closed down left right and centre, endless dole ques etc etc. Seals are far from being an endangered spieces as anybody who has ever been to sea can tell you. Sick seal pups are abandoned by their mothers to ensure only healthy ones survive. This is a fact of the animal world as cats and dogs will not feed a sick offspring either. In my opinion they should introduce a cull to thin out the seal population and spend money on hospitals and schools.

PirateShampoo

Have you checked to even see if its goverment funded?

cathy01

I think, on the other hand, if you look at sea life in Bray, it brigns in a huge number of visitors.So, employment an trade should benifit.
Cathy

CatLady1

I am so saddened by Sparky84's comments. While I agree that many areas in the country are badly looked after by our government I feel that we cannot forget that as humans we SHARE this planet with all the other animals who live here and I espcecially don't think we should "introduce a cull to thin out the seal population" as suggested by the op.

Just my opinion

Irish Halo

If the Irish government is going to spend money on animals (are they? is this government funded?) personally a fan of saving them not killing them. Even the idea that government cash is one big pot the money is ridiculous. The money allocated to healthcare (remit of the Dept of Health and Children) is separate to that allocated to animal welfare (remit of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food). This is to ensure the sustainability of the country, its economy, heritage and environment (not that the Irish government has done any of these particularly well).

Also I assume you are talking about the Irish Seal Sanctuary which is not government funded.

[sarcasm]
I say the money people donate to all charities should be withheld and redirected where we, the right thinking few, can decide where it should go especially with all the

Hospital wards being closed down left right and centre, endless dole ques etc etc

[/sarcasm]

Linguo

The seal sanctuary is very important, we can't start forgetting places like this just because we are in a recession! We're still in a privileged position compared to a lot of countries and we shouldn't lose our heart helping out charities!

Bluetonic

Irish Halo wrote: »

Also I assume you are talking about the Irish Seal Sanctuary which is not government funded.

The (some of at least) funding for the development in Balbriggan was coming from the Government in various forms (Fingal Co Co, Failte Ireland, etc..,)

New marine centre funding in balance €
COUNCIL SAY 8M TAG TOO PRICEY


By Samantha VICKERS

Wednesday June 24 2009

THE Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) has urged the newly elected Fingal County Council to re-affirm their commitment to providing the National Marine Centre whch was suspended earlier this year. The proposed National Marine and Conservation Centre was to be built on a seven-acre site in Bremore in Balbriggan, which was donated by Fingal County Council. The centre, which would have been the first of its kind in Ireland, would had provided 'sophisticated shelter, treatment and rehabilitation' for more than 50 seals at a time, as well as facilities to accommodate oiled birds and other injured marine animals.

Brendan Price, director of the Irish Seal Sanctuary, described these actions to suspend the project as 'contemptible'.

He said: 'Every single county councillor spoke in favour of the Marine Conservation Centre. Yet, at the capital review programme in January, it was still denied. How is this democratic?' A spokesperson for Fingal County Council explained that the initial development was too costly to cover.

They said: 'Following detailed design to develop a proposal the tender price of the project when first tendered was in excess of € 8million. This was too high a price for the council to fund. We went back to the design team to amend specifications but it proved impossible to reduce project estimated costs below € 6.5 million.'

In order for the ISS to secure funding, it was essential that the marine centre include a tourism aspect to 'generate income and make it financially viable'.

The council added: 'As a local authority, we cannot, and could never have, provided funding to develop what is effectively a private facility run by a specialist interest group.

'This kind of facility could only be provided with financial support from the council if there was a tourism aspect to the facility.'

Fáilte Ireland also donated € 2million to the development under the same conditions as Fingal County Council.

The ISS has claimed that their € 3million funding from the council has been reallocated to the FAI to cover the development of a 14,000 seat stadium in the Fingal area.

Fingal County Council has rejected this assertion. It stated that 'any proposal by the council, including the Fingal Football Academy, is subject to a detailed public consultation period before it is brought before the elected members'.

http://www.fingal-independent.ie/news/new-marine-centre-funding-in-balance-euro-1785821.html

lostexpectation

there were supposed to get some money from the bremore port, but that seems to be moving slowly

Bluetonic

lostexpectation wrote: »

there were supposed to get some money from the bremore port, but that seems to be moving slowly

Hopefully it never happens.

meditraitor

Bluetonic wrote: »

Hopefully it never happens.

+10000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Teefa

I assume you are referring to the proposed Marine Conservation and Education Centre, which is a lot more than a seal sanctuary. The seals are the draw to attract visitors but the centre is planned to provide a centre of excellence to all things marine. The centre is planned to have 3 class rooms, a conference centre which will also serve the community when it is idle, a lab for investigations of many types offering phD opportunities and vet student experience. There will be a small sea bird hospital specialising in oil spill recovery which will train people to deal with oiled birds and therefore be able to respond to a serious spill. There will be a coffee shop, gift shop and employment opportunities for local people plus lots of add on opportunities for imaginative people for example boat tours by the fishermen to Lambay to see one of Europe's most important nesting site for sea birds including puffins. Rockabill which is the breeding site for 90% of Europe's Roseate tern, (imagine an oil spill there), local sea-food can be sold to the centre, young and old volunteer for the many opportunities available....
But maybe Balbriggan doesn't want to be a thriving seaside town like Howth,

Sparky84

Well then the best place for a seal sanctuary is Howth. I doubt it. Mention seals to anyone involved in fishing for a living and you will get the same answer from all around the country. How many dead seals have been washed up in areas where island communities depend on the sea for a living ?? Am all on for education regarding sea life but to make a big deal about seals which have no natural predators in these waters is a joke !!!

Saruman

You know we do have sharks here right? I am sure some of them eat seals so that would suggest that seals do have natural predators around Ireland.
Orca's are not unheard of here either and they are the natural predator for seals.

Very few natural predators yes but they do have some.

Sparky84

Great Whites,Polar Bears and Killer Whales are the main predators. Sadly apart from the odd killer whale (Orca) that we see ,our waters are free of seal eaters.

Saruman

Would a mako not kill a seal? They are certainly big enough but I am not sure of their eating habits.
I am sure I have heard of blue sharks eating seals too.

sahs1

Wow! What a fabulous idea! Balbriggan would really benefit from such a tourist attraction. Its a pity that the harbour is so neglected. This certainly would be something to bring money/jobs into the town. My family and I would certainly pay to visit/support such a venture. Eco tourism is one industry that is growing worldwide. Sides I think as we are an Island we should have a National Marine Centre and I am all for saving any creature that is unable to help itself, including seals! Bring it to Balbriggan!:)

Teefa

How many jobs would just the building alone produce in Balbriggan? You spend you way out of recession in terms of building opportunities such as this. While I sympathise with fishermen who may have problems with seals it is all a much bigger picture. The livelihood of fishermen has been more damaged by poor E.U. policy than by seals, live and let live. The Marine Centre has a group of fishermen working with them to create opportunities for local fishing communities and to develop sustainable fishing so that fishermen will continue to be able to make a living rather than be wiped out because there is nothing left.

rccaulfield

Yea those seals come along and take our jobs-should be humans building that place and feeding their young with the money made!
BTW why would no-one want the new port to be in Bal briggan- property prices will rocket!?

meditraitor

Teefa wrote: »

How many jobs would just the building alone produce in Balbriggan? You spend you way out of recession in terms of building opportunities such as this. While I sympathise with fishermen who may have problems with seals it is all a much bigger picture. The livelihood of fishermen has been more damaged by poor E.U. policy than by seals, live and let live. The Marine Centre has a group of fishermen working with them to create opportunities for local fishing communities and to develop sustainable fishing so that fishermen will continue to be able to make a living rather than be wiped out because there is nothing left.

The seal popultion is growing to fast due to human intervention on the east coast especially, if these morons knew anything about the environment they would realise that in giving seals an advantage they are causing damage to the rest of the marine life close to shore.

The advantage I speak of is innoculation against disease and protection of habitate and the damage includes a reduction in the amount of safe spawning ground for hundreds of deep sea animals who's young are being systematically wiped out by an increasing seal population because some lefty half assed ideals regarding the cute little seals. The local shellfish population (lobsters) has all but been wiped out mainly due to humans but in part to the seals
Coming from a fishing family I can tell you that my father and grandfather on occasion spoke about the increase in population in their time at sea, in my grandfathers time they were very rare...

Invest the money in other schemes that will generate jobs but for the benefit of humans not vermin.

Fundamental environmental practice requires that human intervention should not go so far as to increase the advantage of one species over another and this seal sanctuary has no place in the local ecosystem when all the other species are suffering.

Teefa

Interesting comment there but I must correct you. The spawning grounds are not being damaged by seals but by trawling. By-catch is not allowed to be landed but thrown back into the water despite the fact that it is already dead. As a result young fish such as cod is being destroyed but no one sees it because it can't be landed.
As far as I am aware the seals don't get innoculated from disease, just given a safe place to recover from what is often human interference. Do you think it is acceptable to walk past a suffering creature?
The scheme will benefit humans, I believe that is the whole point of it!

Broadway begets

Teefa wrote: »

Interesting comment there but I must correct you. The spawning grounds are not being damaged by seals but by trawling. By-catch is not allowed to be landed but thrown back into the water despite the fact that it is already dead. As a result young fish such as cod is being destroyed but no one sees it because it can't be landed.
As far as I am aware the seals don't get innoculated from disease, just given a safe place to recover from what is often human interference. Do you think it is acceptable to walk past a suffering creature?
The scheme will benefit humans, I believe that is the whole point of it!

Agree with that, and sanctuaries can add a great deal to the tourism industry, and there are many seal and marine sanctuaries in all over Europe doing a fine job and it is about time Ireland had one too. Here is only one example of a success story, and it draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and forms a major part of that county's tourist drive.

http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/attractions/sealsanctuary/Welcome.html