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The Jeanie Johnston, the
replica 19th century Irish emigrant ship, is now due to set sail on her
high profile Millennium Voyage to North America from County Kerry in late
July. The delayed departure stems from a late launch caused by two weeks
of stormy weather off the Kerry coast and the additional time required for
the fitting out of the ship to the highest standards.
The Jeanie Johnston is now
expected to arrive in North America in September. Mr John Griffin, Chief
Executive of the Jeanie Johnston project, said that the late departure of
the ship is regrettable particularly as the ship will now miss the New
York, Boston and Chicago tall ship events. "This is a big
disappointment for us and all our supporters. There is an enormous welcome
awaiting the ship in America and Canada and we are trying to get her there
as soon as we possibly can. The Jeanie Johnston will probably be the most
sophisticated timber-hulled ship afloat and this takes time. The ship is
now fully rigged and once the interior is completed we will be setting
sail." he said.
The Jeanie Johnston will now
remain in North America until the Fall of 2001. The revised schedule will
also include extra ports of call in the southern states and President
Clinton is still expected to greet the ship when she visits Washington in
October.
The Jeanie Johnston combines
as a sail training ship, museum and corporate event venue. At each port of
call the ship will be open to the public as a living history exhibit
depicting life and conditions aboard an Irish Famine ship.
The original Jeanie Johnston
was built in Quebec in 1847 and never lost a passenger during 16
trans-Atlantic voyages. The re-born Jeanie Johnston is a powerful symbol
of North-South and trans-Atlantic co-operation. She will be largest Irish
sailing ship afloat when she takes to the high seas later in July.
For further information
please contact Ann Martin Tel 066 7181681
| Subj: |
[IRELAND] Jeanie Johnston |
| Date: |
2/8/02 2:12:06 AM Eastern Standard Time |
From: aj204@adelphia.net
(Gus Ellis)
To: IRELAND-L@rootsweb.com
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>From today's Irish Independent
No cash rescue for famine ship project 'disaster'
THE Jeanie Johnston replica famine ship project in Co Kerry is a
"disaster", Marine Minister Frank Fahey admitted yesterday,
writes Anne
Lucey.
"It has been the big headache of my two years in this
Department,"
declared Mr Fahey in the aftermath of the ship's arrest in Fenit. The
project had been a great idea - but there was no question of State
finance for a transatlantic voyage.
The project had gone "three or four times" over its original
costing,
with the taxpayer picking up an overrun of Euro10.5m.
Customs officials are keeping an eye on thevessel after a 200-year-old
naval law was invoked to arrest the ship, which is about a fortnight
from completion.
12/31/02: Thanks to Jay Dooling:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=364819
Famine Ship Prepares For Belfast Docking
Floating museum to open hatch on past
By Staff Reporter
A Replica famine ship part built in the Republic by young people
from Northern Ireland will be in Belfast early next year.
The Jeanie Johnston docked in the Republic's capital amid a fanfare
earlier this week.
But Captain Tom McCarthy said the ship would sail to Belfast in
mid-January and then begin a voyage to the US in mid-February.
The expensive replica 19th century sailing barque is currently
docked at Dublin's River Liffey North Wall.
The vessel is unique among the world's tall ships because it
doubles as a sailing training ship and a living history museum
documenting the Famine.
Designed as an ocean-going vessel, the Jeanie Johnson is primarily
a sail training ship - but when docked it transforms into a living
history museum where visitors can experience daily life aboard an
Irish Famine ship.
Some 200 young sailing enthusiasts from both north and south have
worked together on the training ship.
To date, the Jeanie Johnston project has cost some 13.66m euro -
far higher than the original budget.
The ship has cost approximately seven times its valuation and most
of the project finance came from state agencies.
Four years after the ambitious project began, the Jeanie Johnston
finally left Fenit Harbour, Co Kerry, for its maiden voyage in
April - two years behind schedule.
Losses of 3.8m euro incurred by both Tralee Town Council and Kerry
County Council have been converted into deferred shares in the
ship. The entire cost was supposed to be just 5.7m euro, including
2.5m euro in various grants.
When the original Jeanie Johnston criss-crossed the Atlantic in the
years after the Famine, filled with desperate Irish people fleeing
to a new life in America, her proud boast was that she never lost a
passenger to disease or the sea.
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