Sir, - In his excellent letter (August 15th) John Caden states that the proposed marina development at Dun Laoghaire, which, by the way, is already taking bookings, is clearly a worthwhile development, but it will be available to boat owners at a cost. That cost, according to the latest promotional literature, will be at the rate of £245 per metre. A craft of, say, 30 feet will incur a charge of just under £2,500. That will make Dun Laoghaire by far the costliest marina on Ireland's east coast, if not the whole country.
Here's the rub. At a recent meeting with Michael Hanahoe, chief executive of the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company which has handed over a public facility to an out-and-out commercial undertaking, representatives of the Coal Harbour Users Group (CHUG) were told the market price would determine the rates to be charged to small boat owners in the boatyard of the Coal Harbour from next year.
One has only to guess at the demands that can be expected from Marine Marketing and Management Ltd from people whose families have for generations kept their small craft there. That is why CHUG must keep campaigning for a fair deal for ordinary folk who quite simply cannot and should not be expected to afford to pay Mr Hanahoe's "market price". - Yours, etc.,
Tim Magennis, Killiney, Co Dublin.