Aran ferry in dry dock needs plan, says Deenihan

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan has said that any proposal to save the former Aran island ferry Naomh Éanna will have to include a "concrete business plan".

Mr Deenihan has put a four-week stay on plans by Waterways Ireland to break up the ferry, and had agreed to meet representatives of the campaign seeking to have the ship saved. The ferry, which once carried passengers such as James Joyce Ulysses publisher Sylvia Beach and writer Brendan Behan on its regular runs between Galway and the Aran islands, is in dry dock in Dublin's Grand Canal basin, awaiting dismantling.

However, Inland Waterways Association of Ireland ship restorer Sam Field Corbett and a number of public officials believe the vessel should be saved and refurbished.