1,000 book tickets for Swansea ferry route

MORE than 1,000 passengers have already booked to travel on the ferry MV Julia, which will ply the Cork-Swansea route from March 1.

Fastnet Line chief executive officer Tom Barrett said the company was pleased with the level of bookings and inquiries. He said two-thirds of confirmed bookings had come from Britain and strangely a lot of bookings had come from as far away as Germany. “We have two steam engines coming over from Wales for the Upton Steam Rally in June and 40 vintage Rolls Royce cars have also booked to travel for a rally in Cork and Kerry next September,” Mr Barrett said.

He said the ship would leave Horgan’s Quay, in the city centre, within the next three weeks to undergo berthing trials in Ringaskiddy. It will then sail to Swansea on February 1 for a hull inspection and some work on its engines.

Meanwhile, Kerry County Council is to be asked to invest at least €50,000 in the restored ferry service when it holds its annual budget meeting, in Tralee, on Monday next. However, a proposal by Fine Gael councillor Patrick Connor Scarteen to pledge financial support will have to be considered as part of a tight budgetary situation facing the council in 2010.

The council’s finance director, John O’Connor, has asked the councillor to provide further information so the “legal and financial capacity’” of the council to commit money in the form of bonds can be considered.

The council’s allocation from the local government fund for this year is €25.5 million, down €1m on last year. Mr Connor Scarteen, from Kenmare, said the ferry company hoped to secure extra funding from the issue of shares and secured bonds.

“The bonds are in investment units of €50,000 and are repayable after a four-year term,” he said.

“Such bonds can be bought by private companies, venture capitalists and public sector organisations such as county councils.”

He said councils could invest in such co-operatives under the Local Government Act 2001 “to take such action as it considers necessary... to promote the community interest”.

Cork County Council is to invest €200,000 in secured bonds, a decision that received the backing of all 48 county councillors in Cork, he added. “Kerry has as much to gain as Cork from the ferry,” Mr Connor Scarteen said. “There is an estimated loss to the southwest region of €150m since the loss of the previous ferry in 2006... Tourism interests in Kerry are already struggling and the ferry’s reinstatement should give them a significant boost.”