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A MEDIATOR’S SUGGESTION has ended a long-running row about the Tory Island ferry service.
Intermediary Pól Ó Gallchóir, a former CEO of TG4, was drafted in over the past week to try and end the standoff between the islanders and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. His series of recommendations were today passed by the islanders.
The mediator’s main proposal would see the islanders take responsibility for the procurement of a short-term contract (understood to be in the region of two months) that would see a local vessel provide the new fast ferry service in the immediate term from 1 April.
The Department will immediately begin a separate procurement process of its own with a view to providing that fast ferry service for the longer-term.
It’s believed that the necessity to have the islanders secure the short-term contract is due to time constraints – with insufficient time remaining before the 1 April go-live date for the State to complete a process of its own.
Queen of Aran
The result means that no Tory Islander who would rather not use the new Queen of Aran service should have to do so.
Islanders have complained previously that the 42-year-old boat the Queen of Aran (which served the route between the Aran Islands and the mainland in its previous existence) that has been granted the new tender for the service (the existing ferry is only 26 years old) is not suitable for the waters surrounding the island, which is situated 9 miles off the northern county’s coastline.
Ó Gallchóir’s proposals make clear that the five-year contract obtained by the Queen of Aran’s current owner will not be broken regardless of what decision was arrived at by the islanders.
Separately, a retired marine surveyor who carried out multiple inspections over 14 years of the Queen of Aran vessel, which the government proposes to introduce to provide transport to Tory Island, says that allegations that the boat is not up to the job are erroneous.
“It’s old, yes, but it’s not like a car,” Captain Neil Forde told TheJournal.ie.
You can completely refurbish a vessel, like a house – it’s well known in the Aran Islands for being perfectly seaworthy.
The Queen of Aran has undergone a refit ahead of its new commission – gaining two new engines and gearboxes, a new wheelhouse, and a lift for wheelchair access.
Ó Gallchóir’s report, meanwhile, which was delivered to the Tory islanders last night, makes a number of recommendations, including:
Reaction
Government Chief Whip, Minister for Gaeilge, an Gaeltacht and the Islands and Donegal TD Joe McHugh welcomed the resolution of the dispute.
“I would like to thank Pól Ó Gallchóir for his efforts over the last 10 days.
“We want to support our island communities and I’m grateful for the hard work and time the people of Tory have put into this process in recent days.
“I also want to thank them for giving their support to Pol O Gallchoir’s recommendations.
“The Department will move to meet its commitments as part of the report.
“Now that ferry, cargo and transport services to and from the island are secure we should look forward to Tory becoming a place where more and more people will want to visit, live and stay in the coming years.”
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If Wiki is accurate, Tory Island has a population of less than 150 people, some of whom have moved there for lifestyle reasons.
Tory is beautiful, and well worth a visit if you haven’t already been there.
But it would be interesting to hear something about the cost of subsidising the ferry service so we could have a clearer idea about how justifiable the islanders demands are.
@Kieran Magennis: good point..but no form of transport would survive in ireland without government subsidy as population is too small.its just the way ireland is and will be
@Kieran Magennis: you know some people move to many parts of the country for lifesytle reasons.
You could argue anybody outside of Dublin is living in their location for life style reasons.
I guess the government shouldn’t spend money on them eh?
@Barry Somers: Of course the government should subsidise public transport throughout the country. The issue in this case is by how much and whether the service as originally planned was reasonable.
They allready have a fast ferry..some brsins to come up with that idea!! Maybe if the department released the contract and tendering process thats been hidden away and not available under FOI they islanders wouldnt be so suspicious of wrongdoing which is clearly happening in the scandal
@Jono:
Was the pervious contract made public?
@P.J. Nolan: yes
Báidín Fheilimí…. did anyone give Feilim the opportunity to tender?
Sure he only goes to Gola.
They should have a vote for independence like Catalonia so they can do what they like
The date, mentioned above, gives irony to this carry on
It would be cheaper to build a bridge.
@Owen Lynch:
A 11 km bridge in the north Atlantic?
I’m not sure if anyone has read the house that disappeared but it seems his brother is the one running the ferry service that didn’t get the contract .. It reads like an Agatha Christy novel. http://donegalnews.com/2016/11/court-strikes-appeal-tory-hotel-company/
@Sos: no its not..a company from gweedore currently operate the service
Tóraigh go brách!
Sound. The training course “in order to blood future passenger-ferry skippers” sounds a bit sinister though. Can’t they just read Bram Stoker so they know what to expect?
@Fiona Fitzgerald: Or they could just apply through the CAO for Nautical Science in the NMCI.
In Kilkee not Kilkenny-predictive text. Neil Forde is no more a captain of anything that I am
Neil Forde? His last escapade was advising the OPW and inserting a condition in boatmens licences that the courts granted an injunction against. He ignored a guy capsizing a recue boat and throwing the rescuers into the water….on a river ha ha, then recommended the skipper for a permit to bring passengers to the Skelligs. A few months after he was notified of the capsized boat exactly the same happened in Kilkenny and a volunteer drowned. He retired very early from the Dept of Transport. Did he leave or was he pushed? Compare the department nonsense here with his statement and the nonsense on Valentina Island Ferry that only travels one mile each day.
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