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Crunch talks to save Foyle ferry
29.09.09
By Linda McGrory
CRUNCH talks will continue today in a bid to save
the Lough Foyle ferry from closure. The company's
contract with Donegal and Limavady local authorities
expires tomorrow but hopes are high that an interim
solution can be found. The seven-year contract
officially expired on June 14 this year but the
company received a three-month extension to
September 30 to safeguard the service for the summer
season.
Lough Foyle Ferry Company managing director Jim
McClenaghan yesterday said things were at a
"sensitive stage" and he did not want to pre-empt
the outcome of the ongoing talks.
A four-hour meeting on the issue took place last
Wednesday between councillors from Donegal County
Council and Limavady Borough Council.
This was followed up with a meeting in Magilligan on
Friday between Inishowen Cllr Bernard McGuinness,
Limavady Mayor Cathal Hasson and representatives
from the ferry company. The issue was also high on
the agenda at yesterday's monthly meeting of Donegal
County Council in Lifford.
"Nothing has been concluded but you always live in
hope," said Mr McClenaghan. |
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The 10-minute service
from Greencastle in Inishowen to Magilligan in Co
Derry has been operational since 2002 and since
then, has transported just under two million
passengers. The service is also part of the Atlantic
Drift tourism initiative set up in 2005 to link the
tourism offerings of counties Donegal, Derry and the
North Antrim coast. |
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Mr McClenaghan will be
back at the table today for eleventh hour talks with
the two local authorities when a number of interim
solutions will be discussed. The ferry director
would not be drawn on the finer details of the
discussions. However, it is understood the most
realistic outcome, in the meantime, will be another
contract extension. This would give the two local
authorities time to negotiate funding arrangements
and agree for another seven-year contract to go out
to tender. The last contract was worth around
€135,000 a year but Mr McClenaghan stressed that the
funding - while expected to last seven years - ran
out in five due to the increase in the cost of
overheads including the big fuel price hike at the
beginning of the recession. The contract also
included a payback clause to the local authorities
when the company reached certain passenger targets -
targets that were consistently met year-on-year. |
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