Action group wants annual Viking ships’ festival in Waterford

THE Save Viking Waterford action group has proposed that a yearly Viking Ship Festival should be held in Waterford, following the phenomenal success of the Tall Ships Race 2005.

The proposal will be published this autumn.

It outlines the action group’s vision for the future excavation of the Woodstown Viking Site and the exploitation of Waterford’s rich Viking heritage to boost tourist numbers to the region.

It also suggested Waterford could be established as a centre for Viking research.

The document will be presented to a special advisory group on Woodstown, set up by the environment minister.

The ship’s festival would bring together some of the many Viking ship replicas in Europe, and would again make best use of the city’s quays and port.

It would focus attention on them in much the same way as the Tall Ships’ race did and attract thousands of visitors to the city at the start of July, a report suggests.

The group has welcomed comments made by former environment minister Martin Cullen about the future of the Woodstown site, which was uncovered during excavation works for the new city bypass.

The current transport minister agreed that the site provided unique evidence of Ireland’s historical past and should be preserved and excavated.

Dr Catherin Swift, spokesperson for the group, said: “This is wonderful news. It is time now for Mr Cullen’s colleague Dick Roche to publicly announce that the excavation will take place and give us a schedule and budget for the dig,” she added.

She commended the decision and said it would finally uncover if Woodstown was western Europe’s first Viking town, or mainly a site for ship-building.