Fáilte Ireland last night sanctioned €2.5m towards the start-up of the Spike Island tourism project.

Despite being in the Dáil til after midnight as the abortion debate rumbled on, a bright-eyed Taoiseach found himself within hours riding the high seas in a powerboat on Cork harbour on one of the most beautiful days of the summer.

“I’ll be the last man standing,” declared retired Irish army sergeant Michael Kelly ahead of today’s 75th anniversary commemoration of the handover of the Treaty Ports from the British.

Cork County Council officials are involved in talks with 15 British military history groups in an effort to promote more visitors to the region.

Cork’s county manager will today try to persuade Fáilte Ireland bosses to reconsider their decision to pull funding from a major tourism project in Cork harbour.

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.

Sailing races, crab fishing, kayaking, and a free tour of the National Maritime College of Ireland are just some of the activities on offer as part of the Cork Harbour Open Weekend.

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

More than €6.6m in funding has been announced for nine outdoor tourism projects.

THE horrific killing of a prisoner in Mountjoy could easily be repeated in Cork if the jail’s chronic overcrowding is not addressed, it was warned yesterday.

AN HISTORIC island in Cork harbour should be turned into a tourist attraction rather than a super-prison, it was claimed yesterday.

AN Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said recently that crime is not out of control in Ireland and that “as criminals get more vicious, the State will have to get tougher on crime”.

INCREASING numbers of prisoners are being given temporary release as a result of the closure of two jails, it was claimed yesterday.

IRELAND’S prison population is set to jump above the EU average under Government plans to build an extra 1,000 jail spaces.

TWO students jailed over a teenager’s death outside Annabels nightclub are set to be moved to a prison block housing some of the country’s most notorious criminals after budget cuts forced the closure of the segregation block they were being held in.

IRELAND will have the fourth highest prison population in the EU, if Justice Minister Michael McDowell proceeds with his plan to increase places by a third.

The murder in Mountjoy prison this week raises serious issues about security in our prisons, especially given the current industrial unrest among prison officers. Prison authorities justifiably claim that such murders are rare in Irish prisons, and it is important that this should remain so.

SEVEN prisoners were transferred from Spike Island in County Cork yesterday under the Government’s plan to close the jail by the end of the month.

The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has announced the closure of two prisons in a bid to cut the overtime bill within the Prison Service.

YOUR editorial headlined ‘Government losing fight against crime’ (Irish Examiner, Nov 28) hits the nail on the head when you state that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, is more concerned with cutting costs that putting extra resources into fighting crime.

FOUR Cork TDs from different political parties have joined forces in an effort to prevent the closure of Fort Mitchell Prison on Spike Island.