Jeanie hopes to be kept afloat by Shannon Development

THE fate of the troubled Jeanie Johnston could today hinge on an announcement by Shannon Development.

A decision on whether to be part of a three-pronged, €600,000 rescue package, to which Kerry Group plc and Kerry County Council/Tralee Town Council have already signed up, is due from Shannon Development.

The Kerry Group initiative, described as a final rescue proposal, was agreed by the county council, last month, with both the group and the council each agreeing to put in €200,000.

As its offering, Shannon Development was asked not to seek the repayment of a €190,000 grant and its decision on the request is expected to be made known at the launch of the Shannon Development’s annual report in Shannon today. The company was remaining tight-lipped, yesterday, with a spokesperson declining to comment when contacted.

Time is running out for the €16m famine replica ship which is due to undertake a long-awaited, transatlantic voyage early next year.

Plans for the ship this year are underway and already include a second visit to Cork. From there it will go to Dublin and Belfast before sailing to La Corona, Spain, on charter.

Kerry Group chief executive Hugh Friel has already indicated that the ship should sail to the US at the beginning of next year and would spend the full year in North America, visiting key centres there.

A new board is to be appointed to the project, which is being flagged as a major promotional vehicle in the US for Irish tourism.

Planned voyages to the US, which had been due to take place in 2000 and 2001, had to be cancelled as work on the ship had not been completed.

Now, however, the ship has been certified as being seaworthy, after passing each and every one of its sea trials.

Up to €10m in taxpayers’ money has been spent on the Jeanie and Marine Minister Dermot Ahern recently announced that the a full review into the spending of public money on the project was being carried out.

Prior to the intervention of Kerry Group, the county council had decided to abandon the project, but the intervention offered an alternative to liquidation which would have involved the forced sale of the ship, estimated to be worth between €1m and €2m.

Kerry Group’s business success as an international food company prompted councillors to support what many saw as a final chance of success for the beleagured project.

It was pointed out that the group had taken over ailing companies in the past and turned them around.