Cork County Council has said it may cost substantially more than anticipated to turn a 400-year-old fort into a major tourist attraction, because of the “sheer scale and complexity of the work”.

Spike Island in Co Cork and the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare are in contention to be named World's Best Attraction at the prestigious International Travel and Tourism Awards. (ITTA)

Legendary actors Liam Cunningham and Patrick Bergin are among a number of stars lined up to appear at a special event which will take place on Spike Island in Cork harbour next month.

A new national touring exhibition called The Trial which examines health care and human rights with the Irish prison system is launching at Spike Island in Cork this Friday.

The Discovery Channel has been filming on Spike Island and will feature it in the first episode of a new flagship series being launched in September called 'Breaking History.'

Spike Island is expected to get more than 50,000 visitors this year, up 20% on 2017, and plans are in place to bolster numbers by creating further attractions.

The deadline for deciding on whether to give the go-ahead to a controversial incinerator in Cork Harbour has been pushed out for the eighth time. It is one of the State’s longest-running planning sagas.

A leading tourist attraction in Cobh is opposing plans for a new amusement arcade near the centre of the town.

Ask Audrey has been sorting out the people of Cork for years.

With 1,300 years of history, Ireland’s ‘Alcatraz’ has been named Europe’s No 1 tourist attraction, writes Sean O’Riordan

Spike Island’s former inmates may not remember the island facility in a celebratory way but Irish tourism interests will surely celebrate the fact that the island was named, in St Petersburg on Saturday night, as Europe’s leading tourist attraction at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2017.

Fáilte Ireland has been urged to review its decision not to provide funding to Cork County Council for a major upgrade of facilities at Spike Island, which has been voted Europe’s leading tourist attraction.

A row has broken out over where an anchor from a scuttled gun-running ship should be displayed.

The Spike Island visitor attraction has rejected suggestions it has cynically exploited its link to Little Nellie, the “unofficial patron saint of Cork”.

THE owners and builders of Hunters Crest didn’t exactly rush into building their dream home: in fact, they owned the land for over 20 years, before getting around to putting a house on it. And, what a property mix it has all turned out to be.

Here's your morning news bulletin.

Des O’Driscoll with the latest entertainment news and events

Hundreds of metres of tunnels have been discovered at Spike Island, which have yielded up prisoners’ badges and a host of military equipment, including parts of coastal defence guns.

The Spike Island visitor attraction in Cork Harbour plans to introduce a second ferry to more than double passenger capacity in a bid to cope with surging visitor numbers.

Spike Island, Ireland’s equivalent of Alcatraz, has been nominated as one of Europe’s leading tourist attractions in the prestigious World Travel Awards.

The public is being asked to nominate books that encapsulate what Cork is all about, so the Chinese will understand.

Historian says the almost forgotten underground facility could be a major draw for tourists, writes Sean O’Riordan

Huge crowds are flocking to see a tourist attraction that’s being dubbed ‘Ireland’s Alcatraz’.

Ireland’s Alcatraz-style visitor attraction unveils its €5m revamp this weekend as the country gets set to bask in bank holiday sunshine.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin teamed up yesterday against the proposed location of an incinerator in Cork Harbour, claiming such a plan would cause irreparable damage to the area.

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.

Camogie isn’t what it used to be for Cork’s Gemma O’Connor, but, then again, neither is life. In two weeks’ time, the eight-time All-Star winner will line out in her 11th All-Ireland final, with Galway waiting in the wings.

Dublin rock-band Kodaline delighted fans yesterday with an exclusive gig in the most unlikely of venues — Fort Mitchell on Spike Island.

Cork County Council has spent nearly €10m in four years promoting tourism and is aiming to do more to aid the industry.

Hotels in East Cork have already taken bookings for this year’s Irish Open after it was confirmed the annual golfing event will be held at Fota Island in June.

A documentary series which gives a unique insight into the brutal regime on what was once one of Europe’s largest penal colonies will premiere on irishexaminer.com today.

Three interpretive centres are to be opened on Spike Island in the summer of 2015, which will kickstart a series of projects aimed at turning it into a major tourist attraction, according to county manager Martin Riordan.

An island community is to take control of a former British-built gun battery as a potential tourism attraction.

Schoolchildren yesterday heard of their island home’s “unusual history” during a local commemoration of the 75th anniversary handover of a former British-built fort to Ireland.

Archaeologists have identified for the first time the full extent of a convicts’ mass grave on what was once a notorious concentration camp-style prison in Cork harbour.

Juvenile crime is on the increase, so it was backward to close Spike Island prison.

Fáilte Ireland’s decision to pull millions in funding from a tourism project could jeopardise a €40m masterplan to transform an island in Cork harbour into a national park capable of attracting up to 200,000 visitors annually.

Young bands are being given a chance to win a music video shoot on Spike Island as part of an exciting competition.

Gold

IT was poignant start to the Titanic centenary year.

A HUGE outdoor concert from Titanic’s last port of call will be beamed around the world next year to mark the 100th anniversary of her sinking.

MANY of its inmates would have contemplated it over the years, but one man added the swim from Spike Island to Cobh to his list of aquatic achievements.

COMING up on the 100th anniversary of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, Cobh’s large Carrig House has proven itself a survivor of all it surveys.