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Ferry staff on half-time working
03.11.09
New contract goes out
to tender:
by Linda McGrory
STAFF at the Lough Foyle Ferry Company have been put
on half-time working while one skipper has been let
go, the company has confirmed.
Twenty-one hours, including those catering for
early-morning commuters, have also been cut from the
weekly sailing schedule in a bid to save money this
winter.
Ferry company managing director, Jim McClenaghan,
yesterday told InishowenNews.com that one of the
three skippers employed since the service started in
2002, has been made redundant while the four crew
have had their hours cut by half.
"We tried to keep the reductions to a minimum but we
had to cut back because we were losing money," said
Mr McClenaghan. "The summer season just past, was
one of the poorest on record with numbers down about
22% and the sterling differential has hit us very
heavy in the last couple of years." |
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Donegal County Council
last week put a new four-year contract for the
Greencastle to Magilligan ferry service out to
tender and Mr McClenaghan said his company would be
applying for the contract. The abstract of the
tender describes the ferry service as a key
contributor to "the tourism and economic development
of the North West region" in the last seven years. |
It says that
continuation of the service was a key element of the
"peninsula and island-hopping" concept. The tender
documents were published on October 29 and the
deadline for applications is December 8, 2009. Mr
McClenaghan said the contract was for the period
2010-2013 but he said it would also be dependent on
adequate levels of cross-border and EU funding.
Inishowen Sinn Féin Councillor, Pádraig MacLochlainn
welcomed a commitment to the continuation of the
ferry pledged at last Friday's AGM of the North West
Region Cross Border Group in Derry’s Guildhall.
"We would hope to secure funding from the Dáil and
Assembly as well as possibly the Interreg IVA
programme so that this service, which to date has
carried over two million passengers and upwards on
70,000 vehicles annually will be allowed to continue
and expand," said Cllr MacLochlainn.
Meanwhile, Mr McClenaghan said the 8am and 9am
commuter crossings have been axed Monday to Friday -
symptomatic of the downturn in the economy.
"From when we started in 2002 until 2008, our early
morning crossings were full with builders' vans
going both ways, lorrys and delivery trucks. They
have all stopped now bar the odd delivery truck
later in the day," added Mr McClenaghan. The new
winter sailing times are as follows: Monday -
Thursday, 10am - 5pm and Friday, Saturday and
Sunday, 10am - 6pm. The times are on the hour from
Greencastle and on the quarter-hour from Magilligan. |
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