[Article] Cruise ships set sail for longest harbour

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/3244653?view=Eircomnet

Cruise ships set sail for longest harbour
From:The Irish Independent
Saturday, 22nd May, 2004

TWO luxury liners, bigger than the QE2, will be docking here next year, thanks to a multi-million euro development at one of our oldest ports.

The Costa del Donegal is to become the new stop on the cruise liner itinerary with the opening of the longest harbour in the country at Killybegs.

The US-based cruise ships have already booked to land at the new €50m Donegal harbour which was officially opened yesterday by Marine Minister Dermot Ahern.

Both ships have a capacity for 600 passengers and 500 crew each.

Their much anticipated arrival heralds a new beginning for the country's deepest harbour and home of the largest fishing fleet, which has experienced a downturn in activity in recent years.

Plans are also underway to import wind turbines through the harbour later this year.

The extended harbour, developed on 28 acres of reclaimed foreshore and comprising a 450-metre long quay - longer than Dublin Harbour - will enable Killybegs to expand as a commercial port.

It will attract international cargo and liner traffic, the Minister said.

He added that he intended retaining a significant portion of the 28-acre land bank at the harbour to facilitate future development associated with new business at the port.

"Killybegs can now accommodate larger vessels than Dublin Port.

"Its facilities are a match for anywhere in the country. My officials will be working closely with state agencies to market the port and use it as an investment centre for the north-west.

"This is a great day for the people of Killybegs, the fishing community and indeed the entire north-west."

First mooted over 25 years ago, construction work on the new harbour finally began in early 2002 and involved the dredging of 210 cubic metres of materials, which were used for the foreshore reclamation.

Anita Guidera

sceptre

Costa del Donegal