Former prison to unlock its doors to tourists

A FORMER fort and prison on an island in Cork Harbour will shortly welcome its first tourists.

Spike Island is set to become a major tourist attraction, according to the Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Derry Canty.

He toured the island yesterday in advance of the Government officially handing over the island, on July 11, to Cork County Council.

Mr Canty said the council would shortly advertise for ferry operators willing to take tourists to the island and for people to provide guided walking tours once they are on it.

“It was fantastic to see the place. I know a lot of work is to be done on the island, but it is a brilliant facility and its history is fantastic,” Cllr Canty said.

County manager Martin Riordan wants to turn the island, which once possessed a prison, into a major tourist attraction.

He believes the whole of Cork harbour can be utilised as a tourist magnet, bringing in much needed foreign revenue.

The council has already undertaken a general clean up of the 104-acre island but Mr Canty admitted there was a lot of work to do before it will be considered a tourist mecca.

“This is at least a five to 10-year project and maybe even longer. It’s something we won’t be able to do tomorrow. This is a long-term objective because the council haven’t got that much money,” he said.

The ferry operators and tour guides will provide services until September.

Meanwhile, a special working group set up by the county manager is working on providing attractions on the island which was turned into a fort by the British in 1779.

It was later used to house convicts before transportation and during the War of Independence IRA prisoners were held there.

Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the island remained as one of the Treaty Ports, and was only handed back to the Free State in 1938.

The Department of Justice-run prison closed in January 2004.