Group seeks funds to assist retrofit of Haughey vessel

THE IRISH Whale and Dolphin Group said yesterday that it was confident that the State- and EU-backed Leader programme will provide the necessary funding for the retrofit of Charles J Haughey's former yacht, the Celtic Mist.

Earlier this year, the Haughey family donated the 52ft Celtic Mistto the group which said yesterday that it will cost between €25,000 to €50,000 to overhaul the vessel.

The group has publicly tendered for the work and it will have to provide 25 per cent of the funding from its own resources towards the overhaul of the vessel, now renamed RV Celtic Mist.

Dr Simon Berrow of the whale and dolphin group said that he was confident that Leader will provide the remaining 75 per cent, stating that the group is aiming to have the revamped vessel back on the water in March of next year.

He said: “Leader has been very supportive so far.”

The current Leader programme in Co Clare has a budget of €15 million to allocate until 2015 with multiple grants already made.

Dr Berrow said: “I’m delighted and overwhelmed by the reaction in west Clare to the boat. It can be a great asset to Kilrush and west Clare. Lots of people are coming up with lots of ideas about how the boat can be used.”

He added: "The RV Celtic Mistis bringing people out on the water each Sunday.

“We want to be as inclusive as possible. We had one local man – also a Fianna Fáil supporter – who had never been out on a boat in 80 years and he saw the west Clare coastline from the sea for the first time.”

The whale expert said that in order to meet the running costs, the whale and dolphin group is seeking corporate sponsorship of €25,000 per annum to meet the costs of operating the vessel.

He said: “We have had a very good response so far. We don’t mind if it is an international pharmaceutical giant or a corner shop.

"It would be very fitting if we had a local sponsor as the RV Celtic Mistcan be a flagship for a lot of good things happening on the Shannon estuary."

Dr Berrow admitted that if the vessel was still costing the whale and dolphin group in three years’ time, “we might have to hand it back”.

The group has put together a three-year marketing plan for the vessel and, in exchange for €25,000 per year over the three years, a platinum sponsor will be able to display its own logo on both sides of the boat.

The sponsor will also be entitled to have events on the boat and other benefits.

Dr Berrow said that it is planned that the RV Celtic Mistwill have two research trips next year: one researching basking sharks; and the second on the shelf edge 150 miles off the Co Clare coast.