Ferry service to Dursey Island will do little to help businesses hit by cable car closure
An 11th-hour decision to fund a ferry service to Dursey Island in West Cork to replace the iconic cable cart will do little to help businesses that rely on tourism, locals have said.
The lack of a definitive timeline and details about the frequency of the ferry service has fuelled concerns that tourism operators will suffer in the months ahead.
An estimated 22,000 people pay to use the cable cart every year and around 16,500 would stay in local accommodation.
The cable cart has stopped operating on Friday, April 1, to facilitate major repair works due to repeated storm damage. It is expected to be out of service for most of the remainder of 2022.
According to local businesses, tourists spend an estimated €100 per head on accommodation, food and drink for every day they stay in the area.
Rosarie O'Neill, who owns a house on Dursey Island that is let through AirBnB, said: "That the department is going to fund a ferry service is great news for the farmers and the people who live on the island. But when we had a ferry service before, it was only for the islanders and not tourists.
"So, unfortunately, this would not appear to be of much use to me. I accept the work needs to be done."
Cork county Independent councillor Danny Collins, who has lobbied the council for a ferry service for islanders, said: “Most of the people who use the cable car would stay locally.
"The fact that there isn’t going to be one will have a major impact on the local economy but we have to accept there is a major safety issue here and it has to be dealt with.
"I don’t know if there will be a ferry service for tourists but I hope there will be and I will raise it at our meeting next week," Mr Collins said.
"The uncertainty over the provision of an alternative means of access to the island will impact on the plans people are making now about where to spend their summer holidays,” he added.
In her statement, Heather Humphrey, the rural and community development minister, confirmed “once-off emergency funding” for a temporary ferry to ensure “Dursey Island residents and the local farming community” continue to have “reliable mainland connectivity”.
Kevin O’Neill of O’Neills Pub in Allihies, near Dursey, said: “The closure of the cable car will impact on our custom, there is no question about that.
“A lot of people who go there to use the cable car and visit the island eat and drink at my pub and stay in local bed and breakfasts.”
Renowned bird watcher Ed Carty, from Tralee in north Co Kerry, said: “Bird watchers love going to Dursey Island and they would go in around the end of April and into May and then again in September and October.
“The continued uncertainty about exactly what type of ferry service will be in place for tourists and other visitors and from when, weather permitting, would put many bird watchers off."