Whither the Jeanie Johnston now? Long before a sail was unfurled, the Famine ship replica found itself in choppy seas.
There were budget overruns, a dispute which threatened the future of the project, and a series of missed deadlines.
The Exchequer was called upon more than once to bail it out, and finally, in exasperation, the Government said enough was enough.
In the coming weeks the Jeanie Johnston Company will transfer ownership of the now completed vessel to Kerry County Council and its role will be finished.
But the council has made it clear it does not see itself as the long-term owner and that the ship will be offered to the private sector as a going concern.
Given the history of the Jeanie Johnston, the council's decision is hardly surprising. Certainly the Government saw it as something of a millstone in the latter days, and without the intervention of the local authority, its future, would have been questionable at best.
Conceived as a community youth employment initiative in the early 1980s, when jobs for young people were thin on the ground in Tralee, it quickly started to generate its own momentum.
It was flagged as a millennium project, a beacon for Ireland, that would revive the almost defunct art of the shipwright, and of course great play was made of the fact that it would have a North/South dimension, bringing together young trainees from both sides of the Border and from different religious backgrounds.
All of that, and more, happened, even if the detractors, and there were many, who could only see the difficulties, were queuing up on the sidelines to do it down.
To their credit, and largely because of the efforts of former Tánaiste Mr Dick Spring and the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, successive governments stayed with the project until it became politically too hot to handle because of the cost factor.
For all that, the idea was a noble one and the Jeanie Johnston is now acknowledged as a superb example of finely honed workmanship. It is seaworthy, capable of crossing the Atlantic, as it was intended to do, and worthy enough to become, like the Asgard, an ambassador for Ireland's maritime tradition.
Even if a budget that started out at €5.46 million has ended up at more than €13 million, it would be short-sighted, those close to the project believe, to evaluate it only in monetary terms.
The Jeanie Johnston will sail the seas for 100 years and will be capable of paying its way many times over, says Mr Jim Finnucane, manager of the Jeanie Johnston Company.
It will make a bold statement about Irish workmanship and seamanship and it will create goodwill, far beyond what money can buy, wherever it goes.
For Kerry County Council, however, the dilemma is the threat of owning a 167-foot, 40-berth vessel that would be difficult to maintain and ultimately a drain on its limited resources. The council is a 40 per cent stakeholder in the project, although a minor one when compared to what the Irish taxpayer has invested.
For the moment, the council plans a holding operation.
The Jeanie Johnston will be berthed at Fenit and for this tourist season will become a visitor attraction.
Everyone knows that is not how such a beautiful vessel should begin and end its days.
It is a working ship, a perfect replica of the original Jeanie Johnston which transported thousands of emigrants to the New World in the years of the Great Famine, except this vessel is equipped with satellite navigation, sewage treatment and desalination plants, and high-performance engines as well as sails.
Mr Michael McMahon, the council's director of corporate services, says the Jeanie Johnston was built as a seagoing vessel and that's where its long-term future lies.
Using it as a visitor centre during the summer will give the council time to invite commercial proposals from the private sector. It could have a training role, could be used for corporate entertainment, or some other imaginative scheme will emerge.
Whatever happens, Mr McMahon says the council is sure the ship has a brighter future than simply being tied up in Fenit.
The council has declared itself open for proposals and by the end of the year the hope is that "we will have a new project going forward", he adds.
The Jeanie Johnston is now in dry dock in Cork, where its hull is being cleaned and a final seaworthiness audit is being carried out.