A UNIQUE concert venue, an underwater observatory, a sailing port and a garden to showcase native Irish plant species are just some of the suggested future tourism uses for Spike Island in Cork Harbour.
Members of the public have posted dozens of suggested uses for the former prison – which has been inaccessible to the public for centuries – following the establishment of a website dedicated to unlocking the island’s tourism potential, with a view to generating spin-off employment and economic advantages to the local area.
The public response includes suggestions to transform the island’s prison buildings into a museum, providing a perfect opportunity to “recall the military history of the island, the harbour and the region generally”, according to one contributor to the website.
An annual multi-denomination Mass honouring those who died in transit or during imprisonment on the island could generate income for transport operators while providing a boost to the catering and hospitality industry, another contributor suggested.
The island could become an ideal concert venue – possibly offering overnight camping accommodation – a venue for an orienteering weekend or a mystery tour destination, one post suggested.
Strategically located in the centre of one of the best sailing harbours in the world, according to another contributor, Spike is well placed to house a perfect base for a youth sailing project combined with a commercial sailing holiday village.
Another post echoes this idea, pointing out that the island could catch and build on leisure traffic on Cork harbour with a purpose-built marina and a cafe/restaurant and bar.
A number of visitors to the website suggest the use of Spike as a garden island. One such post suggests planting exotic and subtropical plants on the island due to its mild climate – based on Tresco Island off the southwest coast of Britain.
Cobh town councillor Michael Martin (FF), who has spent nine years campaigning for Spike Island to become a tourist attraction, praised the wealth of ideas put forward.
Mr Martin, a historian and founder of Cobh’s Titanic Trail guided walks, said the island’s Famine heritage should be preserved in the form of a memorial.
“There is a wealth of opportunity, the fortress there is an architectural gem, there is a military history most worthy of explanation and the island could benefit from an archaeological excavation,” he said.
County manager Martin Riordan has indicated his hope to open the island as a tourist destination some time in 2010.
A steering committee set up to drive the process established the website – www.spikeislandcork. com – as a platform for the public to contribute suggestions on its development.