Festival marks historic day

Bantry bathed in exquisite sunshine on Saturday as it marked the opening of a maritime festival built around a longboat that came within 450m of altering the course of our country’s history.

Thousands gathered in Wolfe Tone Square to celebrate the 200-year-old longboat used in Tone’s unsuccessful attempt to bring French troops to Ireland in 1796. President Michael D Higgins arrived by helicopter to massive applause in the early afternoon sunshine, greeting 16 teams of participants decked out in their home county’s colours to take part in the 2012 Atlantic Challenge Bantry Bay Gig World Championships.

The President said that although the failed attempt to land French troops in Bantry Bay could be perceived in hindsight as somewhat “shambolic”, it was borne out of “principled intention”.