Ministers will seek funds for Valentia ferry

FERRY MANAGER FORAN SAYS ‘AT LEAST THE DOOR SEEMS TO BE OPEN’.

VALENTIA Island Ferry ( VIF) manager Richard Foran has welcomed that four Ministers will seek funding for a new ferry to operate between Renard and Valentia Island, saying it offers hope to a service with an uncertain future. It comes after a meeting in Dublin last week involving Minister Shane Ross, Minister Michael Ring, and Kerry TDs Minister Brendan Griffin and Michael Healy Rae.

The 1963-built craft used by VIF since 1996 cannot travel from the 2018 season following orders from the Marine Survey Office. €1million of the €2.8million needed for a new vessel has been raised, but VIF has exhausted all means of raising money and requires support to maintain a service described as crucial to the Valentia and south Kerry economies. All three Ministers present and Minister Heather Humphreys have agreed to seek avenues by which funding can be scured

Following the meeting, Michael Healy Rae said “I welcome that the three Ministers that were present are supportive of the ferry project, because this is an acid test to see how much the Government cares about keeping crucial services in rural Ireland”. Minister Griffin also told The Kerryman: “Every avenue we’ve investigated so far has had a stumbling block. But myself, the two other Ministers there today, and Minister Heather Humphries will go away from here and it’s a matter now of getting around bureaucracy and securing the funding”.

Mr Foran welcome the news arising from the meeting, saying: “at least the door appears to be open”. A previous effort to secure funding through Fáilte Ireland’s Capital Programme was unsuccessful as boats were not eligible under the scheme. Minister Griffin has been among those to say the ferry is the kind of project that should be applicable for funding from the tourism development authority.