Rathlin ferry
Nevin over at NALIL has been doing more digging into strange goings on in North Antrim. This time it is about the Rathlin ferry. He has raised this issue on slugger in the recent past but it has not gone away and seems if anything to be becoming more difficult..I remember going to Rathlin as a small child past the wreck of HMS Drake (on a similar theme to my previous blog). The boat was very small and it was difficult for the islanders to get large things moved across. Twelve years ago the Scottish government owned company Caledonian MacBrayne (known universally as Cal Mac) began operating the service with a larger ferry called the MV Canna. Cal Mac have vast experience in operating ferries to small islands and with their new boat the number of visitors reached 50,000 per year. In addition the Canna can, by prior arrangement, take cars etc. across.
A new tendering process was launched in November 2007 and in April this year Connor Murphy announced that Ciarán O’Driscoll of Cape Clear ferries in Cork had won the contract and would continue to use the MV Canna and supplement it with another vessel before bringing in a faster catamaran vessel at a later date. That would not have been an enormous issue except that there is now an investigation by the Northern Ireland Audit office into the tendering process although it is worth noting that there is no suggestion that Mr O’Driscoll has done anything wrong in relation to it.
There do, however, seem to be questions as to whether or not Mr. O’Driscoll has yet signed a contract for the Canna. There are also questions regarding the terms and conditions for the current Cal Mac employees and Mr. O’Driscoll’s other ferry service has previously been fined / had some subsidy withheld over problems with appropriate vessels and timetables (see Newsletter article). John Dallat seems sufficiently concerned to have put down a series of questions for tomorrow in Stormont. Nevin’s latest blog on the subject is here and according to the Newsletter article it is slightly unclear what will be happening on 1st July.
OOps, Now I hear that some of the posters are still up.
See http://www.flickr.com/photos/capeclearrip/?saved=1
Look Nevin, Surely you are a bit unfair on the DRD boys about the scoring for the Rathlín Ferry Contract, there may be a few inconsistencies but in fairness they had a stab at it anyway, surely they deserve credit for trying ?. Down here, the Department apparently decided to skip that part of the process entirely, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/capeclearrip/ for details of published scoring matrix not used.
i have been goin to rathlin for 20 or so years, my family are from there, and i still have family there. the canna is slow, but not unreliable, niether are the crew who sail her. considering her age, and the type of vessel that she is, i personally think she does a fantastic job of serving raghery (as gran calls it
) i was speaking to one of the ferry workers literally 3 weeks ago, and he still new nothing of the new ferry how the workers would be distributed, pay etc, unfortuantly his reply to me on asking of the ‘set-up’ was not publishable language!! theres seems to be an unfortuanate amount of uncertainty and unwillingness of the current ‘goings on’ what many people fail to realise the people of rathlin are happy with cal mac and they way she served the island winter and summer even tho in a slow manner, but the pace of the island is slow and it is their island, i find it unfortunate that maybe an islander or island comittee were not offered the superb opportunity to create, manage and run their own firm/contract. or even had some say on the matter. there is also a feeling in the local area that this decision of a new operator is a political decision…?is that a twist or is this already known..? well this is what i have been told by many people closely associated with the island community. personally, i think if mr o’driscoll proves himself a good businessman then everything could work out fine, but as an islander said to me recently on the matter of the faster vessel being relinquished of her duties during the close season ‘ …… are we just expected to sit here and use what the government see as second best (m.v. Canna) while the new boy just takes advantage during the summer of earning a few pounds?’.
also on the matter of the rip tide not having ‘large seas’ i strongly recommend crossing the sound on a late september afternoon when wind is going against the rip and also blowing straight at ballycastle harbour, then we see what you think….
sorry for rambling just thought aperspective of someone close to the rathlin community might be appreciated
speak soon
I am furious about the article in the Moyle Chronicle by Aine Mc Grady, ‘Fast Ferry Sets Sail’ put up on Nevins Site. I am putting up an interesting fax with translation sent by Mr Ciaran O’Driscoll to the Department of Rural, Community & Gaeltacht Affairs in 2000 which is in circulation in these parts recently. As the content shown this was sent behind the backs of the Island Community following a public meeting which expressed a desire for more ferry sailings. The author is extremely disparaging abut this , calling it the ‘tail wagging the dog” and threatens to compete directly with the subsidised ferry service unless he, himself is offered a contract for the relief service. The author put this promise into effect the following year. This shows, in the authors own words his respect for the views of his fellow islanders on Cape Clear Island. Where also is the claimed 30 year experience in the Ferry Industry ?, See http://www.flickr.com/photos/capeclearrip/