PLANS to launch a new car ferry between Greenore and Greencastle in time for this Easter have run aground again.
For despite full planning permission for the £7 million project having been granted last June, preparatory work still hasn't started.
The delay has been brought about by applicants Frazer Ferries requesting a number of what they say are "minor" changes to its original proposals - which has prompted more objections from local residents.
Frazer Ferries, which has already spend £750,000 getting the years-long proposal to this stage, has requested that essential marine works are allowed to take place before road works are completed.
The development will include construction of a reinforced concrete slipway that will be 60m long with a number of vertical tubular berthing and fender piles on the southern side to facilitate ferry berthing.
The applicants are also seeking to amend road specification drawings previously approved by Newry, Mourne & Down Council.
But the Greencastle Area Residents Group (GARG), who for the last two decades have opposed plans for any ferry service between the two points, have objected again, claiming the proposal is riddled with flaws.
Their latest intervention is certain to delay the Easter launch, and may even scupper plans for the project to be up and running this coming summer season.
GARG has long argued that the coastline along Greencastle, on the northern side of Carlingford Louth, is relatively unspoilt, with a wide variety of landscapes which are of high scenic quality, so building a ferry terminal at the end of the existing country road will damage and destroy the assets within the wider area.
A spokesperson for the group told the Irish News yesterday: "As far as we're concerned, the operators haven't met the conditions of their application so it can't and shouldn't proceed.
"They're trying to circumvent the system by asking to start piling work on the site in February before road-widening and necessary traffic assessment is done.
"They simply can't meet their obligations, so the application should be thrown out," she said.
They have launched a campaign called Greencastle: Keep It Green, which is being supported by more than 1,000 people on Facebook, though their hopes of raising £10,000 via an internet GoFundMe page have so far yielded just £470 in three months.
Frazer Ferries insists its scheme - which is describes as "of national economic importance" - will go ahead.
A spokesman said: "All the necessary planning protocols were approved last year. We are seeking to vary them by small conditions and have every confidence work will begin soon."
The ferry service, backed by private investment, will create 25 jobs directly and another 300 indirectly.
The Greenore-Greencastle crossing would take just 15 minutes and cuts out a 33-mile car journey of often more than an hour.
An economic impact assessment conducted ahead of the planning application submission indicated that the ferry service could create around €10m (£8.5m) of additional annual spend in the region and would open up tourism and economic links between the counties Louth and Down.
