The Kintyre Forum

Hopes that the ferry service between Kintyre and Northern Ireland was soon to be restored appear to have been dashed by public spending cuts.

The Northern Ireland Executive has made clear it is up to the Scottish Government to make the next move if the ferry is to make a return.

But ministers have indicated the project is slipping down their list of priorities in the face of budget cuts imposed by Westminster, adding to the local gloom surrounding the southern part of Argyll.

There have been repeated attempts in the last decade to resurrect the service, which last sailed between Campbeltown and Ballycastle in 1999.

At least two firms were interested in tendering to operate an 11-month service when in 2006 Peter Hain, the then-Northern Ireland Secretary, announced the withdrawal of £300,000 the province had been due to contribute to the £1 million-a-year annual subsidy to the service.

It was seen as a stick to beat Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party into power sharing, as the ferry had cross-party support.

With the resurrection of the Stormont administration, discussions seemed to be back on track, money was put aside by the Scottish Government and there was a proposal to extend the service to an Ayrshire port such as Troon.

However, when asked where the project now stood, a spokeswoman for the Government’s Transport Scotland agency said: “Consideration is presently being given to the timing of further work on the re-establishment of the Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry service.

“However, in light of Westminster-imposed spending cuts, our priorities within the ferries budget continue to be our existing contracts, along with the vessel and harbour projects to which the Scottish Government is already committed.”

A spokeswoman for Northern Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, said: “The DETI remains supportive in principle to the provision of a Ballycastle-to-Campbeltown ferry service.

“However, the Scottish Government has lead responsibility for the restoration of the ferry service.”

South Kintyre councillor Donald Kelly said it came as more bad news for an area where 13 people chase every job – more than in any other Scottish town.

“Successive governments have let us down on the ferry, and it looks as though it is happening again. I am weary fighting for this ferry. There have been so many false dawns, people are giving up hope.

“A ferry, preferably with a link to Ayrshire, would give such a boost to Kintyre, creating new opportunities for economic development and tourism.

“It would also provide an alternative route in and out, because every time there’s a landslide or a road accident on the A83 we are effectively cut off from the rest of Scotland.”

Mr Kelly added that he was concerned it just added to the gloomy outlook for Kintyre. There is continuing uncertainty over the area’s biggest employer, the Danish wind turbine company Skykon, which took over the Vestas plant at the old RAF Machrihanish base and employs more than 100 people, but has admitted to financial problems.

“Some people have already been paid off by Skykon, but the whole economy of the area is depending on the company and its new factories opening to cater for the offshore developments.

“They’re about 90% complete, but because the construction company Rok went down, there is a wrangle about who is going to complete the work on the factories. But any other operator coming in to take over from Skykon would need them completed, so we’ve been hit with a double whammy.”

He said there was also a new Tesco store due to come to Campbeltown but this might not be viable without sufficient local employment levels.

“The knock-on from that,” he added, “is that Tesco was due to buy a creamery site, and the funding from that was going to build a new creamery – so we really could have a snowball effect.”

The ferry service was last operated by Sea Containers in a fomer CalMac ferry and carried an average of 26,000 passengers and 6000 vehicles over each of three 16-week summer seasons it ran between 1997 and 1999.

linda_j wrote:Don't see why the ferry from Troon can't call into Campbeltown, it would make sense ....