Bantry to celebrate ill fated French invasion of 1796

IRELAND'S great "might have been" is to be celebrated in the south west this summer, two centuries after the unsuccessful French invasion led by Wolfe Tone.

"At least we've picked a better time of year than the French did," Dr Matt Murphy, chairman of Bantry Bay 96, noted yesterday at a function in the National Maritime Museum to publicise the festival.

Tall ships, ketches, cutters and a replica of John Cabot's Newfoundland bound Matthew comprise the fleet which will stage a friendly invasion of Bantry Bay in early June. Other events on the six month programme include the Atlantic Challenge - a series of rowing and sailing competitions in replicas of the 39 ft Bantry long boat - and a Bantry Bay Summer School which will be addressed by Mr John Hume.

Centrepiece at yesterday's function was the original long boat from a French frigate, which has been housed in the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire since 1977. The gig was launched to muster aid when two ships in the French fleet were damaged in a collision in Bantry Bay during the exceptional storm of late December, 1796. The officer in charge, Lieut Guillaume Proteau, and crew were taken prisoner when the gig was driven ashore.

Were it not for the weather, Tone and the French might have succeeded, so changing Irish history, Dr Murphy said, when he welcomed the French Ambassador, Mr Francis Mouton, and paid tribute to the ideals of a true republican.

Also evoking Tone, the Minister for Defence and the Marine, Mr Barrett, said that the same spirit of action had contributed to an "innovative and commendable" concept. The Bantry Bay 96 festival was the biggest community initiative of its type, he said.

The tall ships and others, including the HMS Rose, are due in Castletownbere on June 1st on the second leg of the Bristol 96 Regatta from Bristol to Brest. The separate Atlantic Challenge takes place from July 10th to 14th in the bay, when Ireland defends the title it won last time round in Newfoundland. A replica of the longboat built by the Ringsend Community Training Workshop is to be launched by the US Ambassador to Ireland, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith, in the Grand Canal Basin next Tuesday.

The Bantry Bay Summer School takes place from July 1st to 5th. The programme of events is available from tourist offices and from Bantry Bay 96 at (027) 51999.