Famine ship sets off on round-Ireland trip

Crew on board the Jeanie Johnston were tonight preparing to set sail on a four-month voyage around Ireland.

The replica famine ship’s first port of call will be Derry, where it will stop for two days this weekend before heading to Belfast, then back to Derry and on to Killybegs.

Some 5,000 people visited the ship over the bank holiday weekend, where it was docked on Custom House Quay, Dublin.

An 11-man crew works full-time on the ship and takes 24 sail-trainees on board between each port.

The crew is hoping to anchor at many Irish towns it has never visited, providing the public with an opportunity to learn about some of the Irish emigrants who sailed the ship between 1848 and 1855.

The accommodation deck is converted to a Famine Ship Museum in Port complete with life-size models and sounds to emulate a crowded emigrant ship.

The 2004 Ireland Tour was arranged in place of a transatlantic voyage, cancelled amid ongoing negotiations over the vessel’s financial problems.

The €15.5m ship will be sold unless the Government can be convinced to take over its ownership.

It is currently owned by a company featuring representatives from the Kerry Group, local councils and Shannon Development.

Annual repayment costs of €235,000 on a 15-year loan taken out in 2002 to bail out the ship have crippled Tralee Town Council.

The council asked for extra Government funding to help pay the debt, claiming the Jeanie Johnston is a national project, but its request was turned down.

The recreation of the famine ship took place at Blennerville, near Tralee, Co. Kerry and was completed in 2002. It was one of the most ambitious maritime projects ever undertaken in Ireland.