Jeanie Johnston celebration sunk by €8,000 bill

The warm reception given to the Jeanie Johnston famine ship when it sailed into Montreal last week turned unexpectedly cool when the ship’s owners were given a €8,000 bill for port fees.

At least 8,000 people in Canada toured the Jeanie Johnston vessel – a pine-and-oak replica of a Canadian-built boat that ferried 2,500 people from Co Kerry to North America between 1848 and 1855 during the potato famine.

It was one of the best turnouts anywhere during the ship’s 20-city North American tour. Quebec was the last stop on the ship’s transatlantic voyage, which started in February.

But as the Jeanie Johnston was about to set sail for Ireland on Monday, the ship’s captain was told he would have to pay €8,000 before leaving. The fees were charged by the pilots who helped navigate the ship upstream from Quebec City.

The money was paid from donations by visitors touring the ship.

“It’s disgraceful,” said Leo Delany, president of the local Jeanie Johnston committee, the group that organized the ship’s visit to Montreal. “No one expected this.”

When the committee approached the pilots three years ago, they were told there would not be a fee or any charges would be negotiated first, he said.

Denis Pouliot, director of operations for the Laurentian Pilotage Authority, said the bill was less than it should have been.

“I waived some charges,” he said. “It was so expensive because she stopped and started so many times. Sometimes, sailing against the tide, she had to have two pilots on board.”

Pilots in Montreal are not government employees but are subcontracted – and, Pouliot said, they do not work for free.