The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
€2m needed for new Valentia Ferry
VALENTIA FERRY CARRIED 250,000 PEOPLE THIS SEASON BUT 53-YEAR-OLD VESSEL NEEDS TO BE REPLACED SOON
VALENTIA Island Ferries Ltd has applied to Fáilte Ireland for €2m in funding to replace their current car ferry in time for their 2018 season.
Manager Richard Foran told The Kerryman that their current vessel was built 53 years ago, and has been operating between Renard Point and Knightstown since it was brought from Holland in 1996.
While the current ship passed its most recent annual survey by the Department of Transport’s Marine Survey Office, the MSO and Valentia Island Ferries have agreed that a new car ferry will be needed soon.
A design for a new ship has been produced, and would cost €3,000,000, of which €1,000,000 has been acquired through bank loans and investments.
Mr Foran explained to The Kerryman that his group ‘has applied to Fáilte Ireland for the other €2,000,000 under a grants scheme for large tourism projects.’
The current vessel can carry 15 cars or 90 people on its trips, but the proposed new boat’s design would allow them to carry greater numbers, and would also be designed to transport busses.
The ferry service runs from April to October every year, and Mr Foran says this year’s been their busiest since 2007.
“We’ve carried 250,000 people on our ferry’s trips this summer, which is the highest we’ve seen since the boom years” he says.
“We need this hugely succesful ferry in the area, because it makes us a feasible part of the Ring of Kerry route, and also the Skellig Loop route, allowing us to fulfil our potential as a destination for tourists.”
“We’re very thankful for the bridge connecting us to the rest of the county, but the ferry coming to Knightstown on the other side of the island completes the loop.”
Mr Foran says that it benefits not only Valentia Island, but also the wider Iveragh area.
“Tourism is the only show in town in Iveragh right now, and the ferry is a big part of that. We’re getting a lot of tourists coming here, we’ve great scenery, we’ve great history when you think of the transatlantic cable, and our tourism has been boosted further since the Star Wars filming. But we need the ferry to capitalise on that.”
Fáilte Ireland has not set a date for a decision on Valentia Island Ferries’ application.