Councillors seek heritage status for Spike Island

CORK County Council officials are to compile a report on designating Spike Island a national heritage and amenity site, in a move which could finally remove any possibility of a super jail being built there.

The vast majority of the council’s 48 members backed a proposal from Sinn Féin’s Martin Hallinan who said the island was an archaeological gem, with a known history dating back 1,500 years.

“There could be even more history to be discovered there. There are a number of similar locations [former prisons] in the USA, Canada and Australia which have been turned into tourist sites. Even the former governor of Alcatraz said so himself,” Mr Hallinan said.

He added that Cobh had suffered in recent years from job losses and such a move would create jobs in the tourist industry.

“It has the potential to become a jewel in Cork Harbour, which is one of the finest deep harbours in the world. But we need to move fast to save Spike Island. There is no guarantee it wouldn’t be revisited for a prison, or sold off by Minister McDowell to developers. It’s a treasure we can leave for generations,” Mr Hallinan said.

Independent Cllr Noel Collins agreed, stressing that he didn’t want to see it falling into the hands of “fat cat developers” and said he fully supported the move to give it heritage status.

Fianna Fáil’s Cllr Kevin O’Keeffe added a note of caution when he pointed out that Alcatraz was within easy reach of a population of millions, which was one of the reason it was so successful as a tourist attraction.

Meanwhile, Cllr Alan Coleman, the FF leader on the council, pointed out that the local authority had taken over Fort Camden 15 years ago and which, he said, had been in mothballs ever since.

“We should get our own house in order before taking on another house,” Mr Coleman said.

County manager Maurice Moloney said he would ask officials to compile a report on the issue and have it ready before the council started drawing up the next County Development Plan, which is due to get underway in January.