Contracts have been signed for the fit-out of a new visitor centre on Cork Harbour’s Spike Island — Ireland’s version of Alcatraz — which is expected to attract up to 90,000 visitors annually within three years.

Work is set to start next month on a €5m tourist project on Spike Island, the first phase of a development which will later include refurbishing the former jail as an interpretive centre.

A construction company has located its site office on a sea-view balcony 25 metres above rocks, despite the location being closed to the public over fears of collapse.

Sean O’Riordan