A CO-OP of “ordinary people” who purchased a €7.8 million passenger ferry that will travel between Cork and Swansea has dubbed it the “People’s Ship” and predicted it will support 1,000 new jobs.

THEY had their doubters – but a co-operative of ordinary people watched with pride yesterday as their new passenger ferry sailed in to the heart of Cork city.

WHAT a victory for community, what a victory for determination and imagination. The arrival of the “the people’s ship” in Ireland yesterday brings great credit to all involved, right from those who initiated the project and have brought it this far, to those who bet on the future of this country by investing cash in a project Government would not support.