Concerns raised about safety of old jetty structure in Lifford

placeholder image — The jetty at Lifford Bridge under water

"I sent them photographs of the jetty covered in floodwater and there were children playing in the vicinity. When the water covers it you don't see the danger"

Dangers posed by a poorly maintained jetty near Lifford Bridge were highlighted at Monday's Lifford-Stranorlar Municipal District meeting

Two councillors raised the matter saying Donegal County Council did not appear to know who was in charge of the structure.

Cllr Gary Doherty said the jetty was in a very poor state of repair.

"I was told at the last municipal district meeting that this wasn't controlled by the roads section but some directorate in the council needs to take control. This jetty is open to the public and something serious is going to happen unless someone takes the bull by the horns and fix it up both from a safety point of view and improves it as an amenity. It's a lovely spot to sit beside the river. It could also be opened up for people who want to kayak or use the river for sporting activities. It's an under-utilised resource and it's terrible we have a jetty in such poor condition in our county town," he said.

The damage to the front end of the jetty

Local councillor Gerry Crawford said he had already been in touch with two different sections of the council about this issue.

"I sent them photographs of the jetty covered in floodwater and there were children playing in the vicinity. When the water covers it you don't see the danger," he said.

Senior executive roads engineer, Claire McGeever said she understood the jetty may have been erected some time ago by a local community group but would pass the concerns on to her colleagues in various council sections to see if they could find out who was responsible for it.