27 February 2015
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
The Mayor of County Cork is to write to the Minister for Defence
Simon Coveney TD to suggest that “if” Malta does not accept the
donation of the LE Aoife, then the ship could instead be moored in the
lower harbour of Cork as a floating museum.
The County Mayor is Fianna Fail Cllr Alan Coleman. He says he knows of
a group who would be interested in conveying the decommissioned Naval
vessel into a tourist attraction.
It’s not clear if Cork County Council would be in a position to make a
financial contribution to any project, the idea was only floated (pun
intended) by Cllr Coleman at the end of Monday’s (February 23) meeting
of Cork County Council.
Other Councillors briefly said they supported the general idea of
improving tourism in the harbour area, but that for the project to get
the green light the vessel would have to be gifted from the Dept of
Defence as funding was tight
TheCork.ie spoke with the Cork County Mayor Alan Coleman
0224-AOIFE-01-cork-county-mayor-cllr-alan-coleman-CLIP-FROM-david-osullivan.mp3
