THE OWNERS OF the Cork-Swansea Fastnet Line ferry have today confirmed the end of the service with the direct loss of 78 jobs and an expected €30 million lost to the Munster region.
West Cork Tourism Co-Operative Society Limited said in a statement this morning that it had been unable to raise adequate funds to maintain the troubled service and, consequently, the examinership had failed. The company will now be “placed in receivership or liquidation later today, depending on the judge’s decision,” the statement added.
An interim examiner was appointed to the ferry company group last November.
Earlier this week, the company requested additional funding from three local authorities in Cork and Kerry, and secured €300,000 in investment from Cork’s two local authorities on Monday.
It was hoped that a further €400,000 would be invested by Enterprise Ireland and some €800,000 would be injected by Finance Wales, however talks failed to reach agreement.
Noel Murphy, Chairman of the West Cork Tourism Co-Operative, said that despite “heroic efforts” by staff and supporters, they could not save the “vital piece of tourism and transport infrastructure”.
The ferry’s closure is expected to result in direct losses of €30 million in Munster and €20 million in the South Wales region.
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