A decades-old plan to build a marina at Westport Quay in Ireland has been declared “dead in the water” by the newly elected chairperson of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District after funding for a survey failed to come through.

Westport Quay, Ireland

The assessment came from cathaoirleach (chairperson) Brendan Mulroy at the district's most recent monthly meeting in June, after Mayo County Council's head of marine, Michael O'Boyle, confirmed the local authority has no funding pathway to take the marina from design through to construction.

Previous proposals for a marina carried through into 2024 when the volunteer-led Westport Marina Working Group presented proposals to Mayo County Council, with the marina subsequently being named as a strategic priority in the Mayo Maritime Strategy 2040 – Five-Year Implementation Plan (2025–2030), published in January 2026.

According to councillors, ministerial advice had previously been to commission a readiness survey so the marina would be positioned to act quickly once funding became available. It was reported that this direction was not followed through and responsibility for progressing the project instead shifted to the council's tourism section, sidelining councillors in the process.

Councillor Mulroy said the council had effectively broken commitments made to the Marina Committee, who he said had placed their trust in the local authority to see the project through. He noted that the original funding request for the preparatory business development survey was €30,000, sought as part of last year's budget process, and expressed disillusionment that even this had gone unfulfilled.

Speaking at the same meeting, the council's director of services, Joanne Grehan, said the tourism section is working on a business case for the marina and that Fáilte Ireland - the country’s national tourism development authority - is opening a new funding stream that could support the project. However, she acknowledged there have already been delays on Fáilte Ireland's side in getting that stream up and running, meaning no funding is yet confirmed.

O'Boyle said that what is needed is for a government department to formally sponsor the project and to set out the criteria the council must meet for a proper business assessment, which is something he said the council cannot determine on its own.