The Republic's first "community marina" and water activity centre is expected to generate €700,000 a year for the local economy in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry.
However, the 105-berth marina, promoted and developed by a local voluntary group, will not cater only for the "wealthy minority who can afford expensive yachts". It will also steer the young and not-so-young local people towards finding their sea legs, said Mr Denis O'Sullivan, chairman of the local development association, at the launch of the marina's first phase yesterday.
"The marina has been designed to address the need to develop an entirely new tourism product for the town, and is already attracting new visitors to the area, without placing further pressure on the inadequate road infrastructure," said Mr O'Sullivan of the Cahersiveen Area Resource Development Group.
Sail and water training programmes have been promoted over the past year. A course for coastal skippers, and radio courses to increase the skills of the sea-faring population for south-west Kerry, have also been organised.
The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, a native of Cahersiveen, noted that €2.54 million of the total €3.4 million cost of the marina came from the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, and he paid tribute to its former minister, Mr Frank Fahey, for the grant-aid.
The marina is one of a small number of flagship projects to avail of funding announced in December 2000 for pilot marine tourism infrastructure and is the first to be completed, he said.
It was still the Government's aim to develop facilities such as marinas, berths, and slipways under the 2000-2006 National Development Plan.
The investment programme would result in "a necklace of high-quality marinas around the coast", with the resultant benefits, Mr O'Donoghue said.
The Cahersiveen marina is the latest in a number of multimillion euro investments in Cahersiveen over the past five years. These include the construction of Legal Aid board offices at a cost of €5 million with the transfer of 40 civil servants, a €7 million secondary school, and a new library. Roads, piers, not to mention the church organ, have also benefited.