A Kerry project to replicate a famine ships and sail it across the Atlantic is today set to be scrapped after it ran more than €10 million over budget.
The replica ship, the Jeannie Johnston, was near completion when a creditor secured a directive, halting the project.
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The
Jeannie Johnston
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Minister for the Marine Mr Frank Fahey, who recently submitted a damning report on the project detailing its financial shortcomings to the Cabinet, said today: "Originally the cost of building the
Jeannie Johnston
was put at €3.8 million and the final sum looks like being €14.3 million."
He said the only option now is to wind down the company and to look at possible uses for the ship including having it as a visitor attraction during 2002.
"We want to pay off the creditors and allow Kerry County Council to take ownership of the vessel and try and agree on its future," Mr Fahey said.
When the plan ran into financial problems, the Government launched a €4 million package to ensure the building job was finished.
But Mr Fahey said it was not a question of having poured good money after bad - rather saving up to €8 million that would otherwise have been lost.
The Minister said: "We are now in a position of having the ship completed by the end of the month and the assets will look after trade creditors . . . then it is a question of looking to see how we can recoup losses and make the ship useful".
PA