A little bit of Scandinavia has been hauled down to Galway Bay as part of the £50 million construction project on Mutton Island.
The first consignment of some 60,000 tonnes of rock arrived by barge almost a fortnight ago from Larvik in Norway, for transfer to a smaller vessel. The initial 15,000-tonne delivery was made by a Polish barge, the Neptuna.
It appears that no Irish quarry was able to provide boulders of the size required for the treatment plant's foundations. Each of the Norwegian boulders weighs 10 to 16 tonnes. The plant is due for completion in June 2002. The contract for the final stage was awarded to the marine engineering company, Ascon, which also built the causeway to the island.
Last weekend, Galway docks also hosted what was billed as the first official visit by the British Navy since the State's foundation. Three 20-metre patrol boats, used on inland waterway duty, berthed at the lock gates for the weekend, en route to Kinsale, Co Cork. The three - named the Archer, Example and Explorer - were crewed by 15 cadets in training and five permanent staff. However, the vessels kept a low profile, and plans for a welcome reception were reviewed, given the climate north of the Border.