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Britain v Ireland in Carnagarve Sewage Treatment Pipe dispute

Posted Thursday, January 5, 2012

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Carnagarve

There has been a lomg running dispute as to who owns Lough Foyle.

Ireland claims the border is in the middle of the Foyle.

Britain claims it owns Lough Foyle up to the high tide mark.

There has been simmering tensions since Independence.

Joined Forces

Now, according to today's Inishowen Independent, the British claim is being brought into play by the Carnagarve Group.

It seems the Council put in a Compulsory Purchase Order to buy the sea bed from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

However, they are buying from a department that doesn't own it, says Enda Craig, as Lough Foyle is a disputed territory.

The Carnagarve Group claim that it is owned by the British Crown estates and the Council can't just stick a 350m long pipe in it.

Crisis

This has really upped the ante now in this long running poker game.

Surely someone in the last 21 years must have considered that the British might be none too pleased if the Council bought the sea bed from someone other than the Crown Estates.

This could flare up into an international incident.

One could imagine what would happen if the Council just started laying a pipe 350 metres out into the Foyle.

Interesting

It would be pretty certain that the British would try and stop it in some way.

There could be a very interesting confrontation down off the shores of Carnagarve with the residents there very interested spectators.

This could be quite a story.

The Carnagarve Group have long claimed that they have been bullied and pushed around by the Council and Bord Pleanala.

I wonder how many gunboats the Council and Bord Pleanala have if the British decide to enforce their claim as is very likely.

Rent

Of course one thing the Council could do is to pay a huge sum of rent each year to the British Crown Estate but that would mean recognising that the British own it and the Irish Government may not allow them to do that.

Unless some accommodation can be made one can see that the Council may have to run pipes up the coast to the very mouth of the Lough to avoid a border dispute.

This may well be a winner in stoppage time for the Carnagarve Group just when it looked just about over for them.