TALKS SEE FURTHER PROGRESS IN CAMPBELTOWN – BALLYCASTLE FERRY PLANS

The proposal to re-establish a ferry service between Kintyre and Northern Ireland have taken a further step forward following discussions with Scottish and Northern Irish Ministers.

Ministers and Local Authority partners agreed to move to the next stage of developing tender documents for the route early in the New Year.

The news follows a successful meeting between Argyll and Bute Council Leader Dick Walsh and Chief Executive Sally Loudon, their counterparts in Moyle District Council Councillor Cara McShane and Richard Lewis, and Northern Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment Arlene Foster.

Councillor Walsh said: “We had a very positive discussion about the potential benefits which such a service would bring to both Northern Ireland and Scotland, and I am delighted that we agreed to move to the next stage in developing these proposals.

“I sincerely believe that the opportunities which the ferry will unlock are substantial. The most obvious areas of benefit are in the tourism and renewable energy sectors, but the service will also open the door to significant development potential in many other sectors.

“We very much look forward to working in partnership with our colleagues in Northern Ireland, both at local and national government level, to see these plans finally come to fruition.”

Councillor Cara McShane, Chairperson of Moyle District Council, said she welcomed the outcome of the meeting.

“A Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry service has huge potential in terms of developing the local economy and enhancing the tourist industry throughout the island of Ireland, so we are delighted that the plans have taken a step forward.

“Such a service could only serve to strengthen the links which already exist between the two communities in terms of culture and language, and Moyle District Council looks forward to playing its part in bringing it back.”

Argyll and Bute Council will now liaise with the Scottish Government with the aim of securing a meeting early in 2010 to develop tendering documents.

Work has also begun to convene a group of key national and local partners which will be tasked with creating a joint plan to unlock the full economic potential of the Campbeltown-Ballycastle route in the longer term.

A summer-only ferry service operated by the Argyll and Antrim Steam Packet Company (a subsidiary of Sea Containers) ran between Campbeltown and Ballycastle for three seasons from 1997 to 1999.

Argyll and Bute Council and Moyle District Council have been working in partnership since that time to re-establish a viable service.