Is It Time To Let Go Of The Old Harbour…?

As 2016 gets underway, and Greystones continues to endure a major drenching – thanks to a seemingly endless winter rainfall – perhaps it’s time to let a dearly departed old landmark finally wash away with the tide?

From the very first mention of Greystones – in a 1795 publication, Topographia Hibernia – the town was described as ‘a noted fishing place four miles beyond Bray’.

So, right from the start, the harbour has been a big part of our identity. And the destruction of this picture postcard Victorian landmark in 2008, to make way for a shiny new marina – with a promised 370 apartments, a medical centre and park lands – was just the beginning of a seven-year nightmare for many of Greystones’ residents. And it’s not quite over yet.

Think of Pippa Parkinson, and her beautiful seafront B&B, Slievemore. I’m sure having her guests wake up to The Bob The Builder Theme Park every morning has been a pure delight.

Back in 2008, 91% of the town’s residents were against the new development, and, just to add insult to injury, shortly after work on the new marina began, Ireland’s economic collapse saw the town being left with one great big building site eyesore where our sweet, little ol’ harbour used to be.

As with any big-business development, many in the town saw corruption at every turn, as the mistrust of and disgust with local politicians who backed the developer Sisk’s new marina plan grew ever louder. It didn’t take long before the Facebook page Give Us Back Our Harbour had over 1,000 followers.  Some people just couldn’t see the logic or love in including berthing for 200 yachts in this new marina, but no space for fishing boats.

Then again, in Ireland, most people see politicians as Mayor Quimby material. Or worse, Charles Haughey. And rightly so.

In 2016 though, there finally seems to be some light at the end of the funnel. You can see the five new clubhouses taking shape. The paths are beginning to open up new ground to the public, and these days, more and more people are taking walks there. By June 2016, we’re told the town will have the first of two public parks and a boardwalk in operation.

Those abandoned apartments are back too, with the first of 350 new homes expected to be offered for sale by April 2016. The soft sell is already underway, as auctioneers Sherry FitzGerald release a series of pastel postcards, depicting the wonderful quiet life in Greystones awaiting some unknown ginger girl and her Scottish terrier. Tellingly, the images for the postcards – which should really come with the soundtrack of a ukulele and a milkman’s whistle – have avoided actually showing the new harbour, concentrating instead on the unmolested South Beach and an afternoon pint in Dann’s.

Still, Sisk – who are said to have invested €80m in marine engineering works here – and Wicklow County Council have secured new backing from investment fund Targeted Investment Opportunities after Park Developments bailed, with the consortium appointing builders Bridgedale Homes to carry the housing and other assorted projects forward. Add to that €1m being handed over to the five clubs to provide fit-out for the buildings – bringing the total investment there to €4m – alongside planned cafes, shops, boat pens, a 16-acre public park, a coastguard station and even fishermen’s stores along the boardwalk, and, well, it’s easy to feel a little optimistic about what lays ahead.

Whatever the eventual outcome down at the harbour – and there’s no reason big business would want to deliver something ugly and unloved – maybe it is time to say goodbye to Elvis? To accept that he has definitely left the building.

Like a favourite grandfather or an old lover, the original harbour triggers a deep sense memory for any Greystonian over the age of 10. It’s part of our childhood, part of our children’s childhoods, our parent’s, our grandparent’s, and so on. Clearly, the old harbour will always be dearly held in our hearts, our mourning of its passing as much to do with a fear of big business ripping out the very heart of our small town as it is about each of us having to say goodbye to our own personal past.

What would you give to have spent New Year’s Eve 2015 in The La Touche Hotel, even in all its tatty, latter-day glory? Or to pop into Paddy’s for your Irish Press and some loose tobacco before a leisurely short, back & sides in Frank Clarke’s, and a slap-up dinner in The Copper Kettle? Oh, and to finish the trip down memory lane, up to Ronnie Drew’s after, for an all-nighter.

Some of us were lucky enough to have had such opportunities, such memories, but now it’s time to make some new ones. For our kids, and for ourselves. Ultimately, it’s the people who make a town. And we can make this new marina work.

It may never be Elvis, but, in the right light, in the right mood, with the right killer beat, the new harbour could still be rock’n’roll…