Successful councillors to the board can expect to be paid “£8,772 per year for up to two business days per month”
No political party has nominated councillors to the board of Warrenpoint Harbour Authority (WHA) amid a town’s long running ‘stink’ problem.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council chief executive Marie Ward had set a deadline for elected members to show interest in taking up the three non-executive roles at the port.
Department for Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has invited councillors to apply to the board following resignations last July over concerns of foul odours at the harbour.
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The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted all the political parties on the council with responses now confirmed.
Sinn Féin said: “Sinn Féin has not nominated anybody for the WHA as previous concerns raised have not been properly addressed.”
The SDLP said: “The SDLP has not nominated a representative to the WHA board.
“We recognise there is significant community concern about a number of outstanding issues relating to the harbour and believe our efforts are best focused on working with local stakeholders and the relevant authorities to help secure solutions.”
The UUP said: “The Ulster Unionist Party did not nominate any councillor at this time for the WHA board.”
The DUP said: “No, the DUP has not nominated anyone.”
An Alliance spokesperson said: “Alliance hasn’t been on the board historically and won’t be nominating anyone.”
According to the WHA website, the function of the board is to oversee and scrutinise the day-to-day management of the port as well as to help set the future direction of the organisation.
The non-executive directors on the board are appointed through a public recruitment process facilitated and managed by DfI with all appointments made by the minister.
Successful councillors to the board can expect to be paid “£8,772 per year for up to two business days per month” according to a DfI letter presented to the council.
Currently, independent Crotlieve elected member Jarlath Tinnelly is the only councillor to sit on the board.
Environment groups and local residents have raised concerns for the last three years over a perceived stink at the port, they claim is linked to waste bales at the harbour to be shipped for Newry recycling company Re-Gen. The bales are exported to be incinerated in Scandinavian areas.
Former WHA board members, councillors Jim Brennan (Sinn Fein) and Laura Devlin (SDLP) resigned last year in solidarity with local people complaining of the bad smell.
In September (2025), WHA stated that it had extensive engagement with Re-Gen, with the Newry company agreeing to remove all RDF (refuse derived fuel) bales from the port, with a proposal to no longer store the waste there, but instead transport it directly to ships for export.
Only SRF (solid recovered fuel) bales were to be stored in future on the site, which the WHA was told should be non-odorous.
As a result of extensive talks and an independent environmental audit report, the WHA set up the community forum to provide a key communication basis on potential bad smells from the port located in the centre of the town.
However, in April this year, forum member Fionnuala McKinley, who lives just yards from port, stepped down and called for an independent environmental impact study.
Applications for councillors to the board will close on 28 August.
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