Sailmaker gives up the ghost on expansion plans

The old Church of Ireland just outside Goleen is surrounded by graves, but now a new ghost could be about to join them.

Fastnet Sails has been making sails in this unique setting since 2004, but owner Christophe Houdaille, a 49-year-old originally from Brittany, is about to leave the country and close his business, all because of what he sees as the problem of the Irish planning process.

Singer sewing machines, cutting equipment, and a raised wooden platform occupy the interior of the church where Fastnet have manufactured sails one and a half times the total floor area.