The start of ferry services to Skellig Michael, off the Co Kerry coast, is likely to be affected this summer, due to a High Court judicial review of the awarding of permits to bring passengers on to the island.
This is the third time since 2016 that legal challenges have been brought to the Office of Public Works (OPW) system of awarding permits, or concessions, to local ferry operators.
Ferry services are due to begin there May to September season in mid-May. However, the services are likely to be restricted until the judicial review has been completed.
The judicial review was initiated by Atlantic Endeavour Ltd, operator of the boat Atlantic Endeavour, which has been ferrying passengers to the island for a number of years.
Owen Doyle: Chaotic cock-up cost Munster and it reflects badly on a number of people
Dublin-born Irish–American cardinal Kevin Farrell to run Vatican until pope elected
Pope Francis died of a stroke and ‘irreversible heart failure,’ the Vatican has said
New teachers will be fast-tracked into permanent posts to tackle staffing ‘crisis’
This year, however, Atlantic Endeavour was not among the 15 ferries granted a concession by the OPW to land passengers on the island.
Timmy Casey, skipper of the boat, was not available for comment this week.
However, The Irish Times understands that a number of ferry operators who have not been successful in the competition this year are unhappy with the competition process.
[ Skellig Michael boat operator challenges OPW in court over landing licencesOpens in new window ]
It is understood boat owners have concerns over the criteria and the evaluation processes for the concession system. One source said: “Owners want to know why they lost out and why some others won. They are entitled to see what the criteria were and how applications were evaluated.”
A spokeswoman for the OPW said it had “conducted a public competition to award permits to land at Sceilg Mhichíl.” The spokeswoman drew attention to the Government’s eTenders website which noted “the OPW are [sic] in charge of managing access to the Island and for determining a sustainable level of visitor traffic to what has been recognised is a unique and fragile site”.
The document also noted the contract to boat owners was for five years’ duration and worth about €8.5 million overall.
Skellig Michael is a rocky island about 12 miles off the Co Kerry coast. It is the site of an early Christian monastic settlement, featuring stone ‘beehive huts’ where monks sought solitude for more than 600 years, from about the sixth century. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
More recently the island was the location for filming as part of the Star Wars series of films, resulting in a dramatic rise in interest in the island globally.
Last year the OPW granted permits, or concessions, to 15 ferry operators to each bring a maximum of 12 passengers per day to land on the island, limiting the total number who undertake the hazardous landing to 180 per day.
