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The old ferry connection between Swansea (Wales) and Cork snuffed it in 2006 - since then Corkonians and their nearest neighbours had to make the big trek east to catch a ferry at Rosslare, Dublin or (God forbid!) one of the Northern Irish harbors. And tourists heading for the Irish south-west had to do the same vice versa. All very inconvenient.
Adrian’s Reply
'snuffed it' - actually the then operators (Swansea Cork Ferries Ltd) sold the ship and then failed to buy a replacement.
"Very inconvenient" completely trivialises the effect that the loss of the ferry has had on West Cork (at least €35m per year - with a similar figure in South Wales). It's serious matter - not one for your humorous comments.
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So a few months ago some businessmen came up with the idea to reinstate the ferry connection.
Adrian’s Reply
The Campaign of which I am co-organiser was started in April 2008 - 13 months ago - not "a few months ago". West Cork Tourism became involved in January 2009, the co-op idea was floated in February and the co-op was officially formed in early April.
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And with a great fanfare a restart for 2009 was announced.
Adrian’s Reply
Hyperbole. No 'great fanfare' - our hope was to restart the service in 2009 ..
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..which fell through,
Adrian’s Reply
- but various delays conspired to make this impossible.
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a certain lack of planning and a tight timeframe being the main culprits.
Adrian’s Reply
Simply untrue. There was no lack of planning - the major delays have been in obtaining the ship - and these have been largely due to the Finnish authorities. The timescales were tight - but would have been achieveable, without the delays.
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The story might have been heart-warming - the deprived citizens (and businessmen) of Cork banding together, forming a co-operative, buying their own ferry and reviving the defunct line.
Adrian’s Reply
Why 'might have been heartwarming'? Your tone here is quite patronising.
The 'citizens' of Co Cork and further afield have shown their support for the ferry by raising the amazing sum of €3m in 8 weeks - without any help from the Irish Government or large investors. That's heart-warming - and their efforts should not be belittled.
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Money does not seem to have been a problem at the outset,
Adrian’s Reply
Incorrect - money was a massive problem at the outset - have you ever tried raising €3m in 2 months - in multiple pledges of €1k to €10k?
It's harder than you might imagine - especially when everybody involved is working on a completely voluntary basis
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but two tiny obstacles remained - there was no concrete planning as to a booking system and as to a schedule.
Adrian’s Reply
Again this 'planning' issue - where is your evidence for this allegation ?
Putting a booking system in place is trivially simple - but pointless until you have a definite start date for the service. You cannot have a start date until you have ownership of the vessel - and the delays in obtaining her have been outside our control.
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And, oh yes, nearly forgot, there was no ship. And a ferry service without a ferry is a non-starter. So the intrepid band roved out, sourced a ferry and announced the start of crossings for mid-2009. An unlucky choice as most prospective passengers already have made bookings for the main holiday period and the not-very-functional "pre-booking system" certainly was no incentive to changing plans.
Adrian’s Reply
Very funny ! - you're slipping into 'comedy mode' again - which only serves to insult the people who have worked hard on this. The same ship has been pursued since late 2008 - but various shenanigans prevented us from purchasing her in time to capitalise on the main summer season.
Precisely what is 'not very functional' about the pre-booking system ?? It was intended to allow potential passengers to register an interest in travelling on the new service - and currently 3,702 individuals and familes have registered their interest.
I'd say that was pretty 'functional' - wouldn't you?
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On April 1st the news was spread that the negotiators had returned from Finland "having agreed the basis for a deal for the purchase of the Julia". Good news, ominous date ... an agreed basis is not a deal, which was obvious fairly soon.
Adrian’s Reply
'news was spread' - sounds like we're doing something deliberately misleading - which is not the case.
Agreed - that there's some distance between 'the basis of the deal' and the deal being concluded -
really don't see what point you're trying to make - unless it is to make further slights on the competance of the people concerned..
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For once the deal still had to go through the Finnish courts, apparently buying a sea-going ferry is not as easy as getting your morning paper
Adrian’s Reply
I don't think anybody involved was under the impression that it would be easy purchasing €8m-worth of seagoing ferry - that would be foolish.
