Westport Harbour Commissioners have received a grant of up to £40,000 for a feasibility study of the potential of a marina in the Co Mayo port.
Marinas are planned for Rosse's Point in Sligo and Roundstone, Co Galway, but there is no established facility on the long and exposed coastline between Kilrush in Co Clare and Coleraine in Co Derry. The Department of the Marine and Natural Resources has asked the Westport Harbour Commissioners to submit a detailed proposal for the study, setting out specific technical details and costings.
In Galway, the feasibility study conducted for a proposed marina at Rinville Bay in Oranmore has costed a marina there at £8.5 million, which includes building a protective breakwater.
The report by Patrick J. Tobin and Co Ltd proposes constructing it in two phases, with the first incorporating a marina of 100 berths and a fixed breakwater, along with an all-tide slipway, car-park and upgraded access roadway.
The second phase would comprise an additional 125 berths, a utility building and floating breakwater.
The study recognises that the location is a National Heritage Area and a Special Area of Conservation, and also has Special Protection Area designation, so any development would require an environmental impact study.
A marina is already planned for Galway docks, but the Galway Bay Sailing Club plan at Oranmore would complement the relocation of the Marine Institute from Dublin to the area and ensure that Galway became a "major maritime location" once again, its promoters say.
New information on the bay's seabed has just been published by the Marine Institute as part of the Galway Science and Technology Week.
A survey by the institute's research vessel, Celtic Voyager, focused on three regions: between the Aran island of Inis M≤r and the Connemara coast, the scallop grounds between Inis Meβin and Inis O∅rr, and the approaches to Galway harbour.
The data will be transformed into maps which will complement the Admiralty charts, according to the institute.
The data were presented by the Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, to the harbourmaster, Capt Brian Sheridan, at the weekend.