Give the Ireland ferry a push

[general jack o'niell]

[LO]

there were seven bids for the campbeltown/ ballycastle route

That ties in with our understanding of the situation (8 actually if you count the passenger only proposal). Unfortuntately, only four were invited to go forward to the final round and with hindsight were the wrong choice. As far as we know the other three are still out there and still interested including the local bidders. Over to you, Scottish Executive!

Incidentally it was reported in the press over there that politicians in Northern Ireland were very angry because a joint Irish/Scottish consortium was apparently told that it could bid for other ferry routes but NOT the Campbeltown-Ballycastle service. Naturally they want an explanation and pronto. At Monday's KIWG meeting George Lyon MSP advised that he knew nothing about this. However, he has agreed to find out if there is any substance to this story and report back to me. Will keep the Board posted on this.

In the meantime the fight goes on and to this end, we understand from George Lyon that he has held meetings to date with at least two of the unsuccessful bidders. In addition we should not lose sight of the fact that following an unsuccessful tendering process such as this, the Executive is now at liberty to enter direct talks with any of the individual companies that turned down the opportunity to submit a tender if they find that there are grounds for negotiation which don't involve material changes to the tender document. Thus, there is still an outside possibility that by the time the Executive has done its promised review of the non-tenderers that one of them could still be granted "prefered bidder" status provided agreement can be reached.

[John S]

Watch out for Kintyre and Ballycastle featuring on the BBC Countryfile programme. They were filming over the weekend so got some great weather for it. The programme goes out on the 26th Feb (sunday) at 11.00am. Unfortunately you'll only get it by tuning into an English Regional BBC1 on Sky. We get Landward here instead as a regional variation.

[oorly gourlay]

An excellent programme that showed the Wee Toon in all its finery. I hope that a copy was made and sent to the Scottish Executive. John S, your points regarding Arran and Islay being served by 2 ferries during the summer were very salient and should be expanded on, especially with the increase in tourism on the Antrim coast. A similar feature on our area, adding in the beaches and golf courses in a holiday programme with a wider audience would be a great help for the tourist industry, especially if filmed in the current weather.
I have corresponded twice with George Lyon (without reply) pointing out that the Cowal peninsula, with perfectly good road links, is well served by 3 ferries, 2 subsidised and one profit making and that his home island, Bute, is also served by 2 subsidised boats.
Am I wrong in thinking that the Kintyre - Antrim ferry is the missing link
As a wee aside John S, you are a very brave man holding on to those railings on the prom.

oorly

[Annie]

This is a copy of the reply I received from Cheryl Murrie at the Scottish Execs Office!!!!!!!!!

Ms Williams

Thank you for your e-mail enquiry of 5 March 2006 about the Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry service, which was addressed to Scottish Ministers. I have been asked to reply.

Scottish Ministers have always recognised the potential local benefits of the service for those involved, and are very disappointed at the response to the tendering process. Minister for Transport, Tavish Scott MSP announced on Monday 13 March that he had agreed with his colleagues in Northern Ireland to make a final effort through a negotiated procedure to see the service reinstated within the terms of the current 2005-06 tender. The Minister explained that we are committed to ensuring that every option is considered under the current 2005-06 tender, before any final decisions are taken. I have enclosed a copy of the Minister's 13 March news release.

Our approach will be to explore potential interest from operators willing to run the service within the terms of the existing competition. Potential operators would have to meet the qualification criteria set for the earlier phase of the competition and any subsequent proposal would have to comply fully with the terms set out in the Invitation to Tender documentation for the 2005-06 tender.

We do not feel that it would be appropriate to comment on the reasons for the lack of response while we are still considering options within the terms of this tender, which is our current priority.

You have mentioned the Dalriada Shipping group's continued interest in running the service. Where a company, like Dalriada Shipping was involved in the earlier phase of the competition but not invited to submit a bid, we would need to consider their position afresh in light of any up to date information or change in their circumstances.

It is not possible to place a precise timescale on how long these investigations will take, but every effort will be made to establish the position as soon as practical.

I hope this is helpful.

<<Campbeltown-Ballycastle ferry service - Media - Negotiated Procedure - Final news release 13 March 2006>>

Cheryl Murrie
Scottish Executive
Ferries Division

31 March 2006


[/b]

[4th gen Suthen']

I see the Tanners of Southend, not Campbeltown, were writing in the Courier this week

In the name of fffff! fair play I hope they dont write to t he Executive!

But I wuddny worry TOO much aboot it........