#NaomhEanna - Campaigners hoping to preserve the heritage ship Naomh Eanna have circulated a letter among Dublin TDs to gather support for their restoration plans.
Earlier this week Afloat.ie reported that the vessel, described as the 'last Irish heritage ship', is set to face the scrapheap after spending the last 28 years in a state of neglect at Grand Canal Dock.
Now the Save Naomh Eanna campaign has called on local TDs to put their weight behind a 16-week reprieve for the derelict ship so that a business plan for its restoration can be put together.
Save Naomh Eanna argues that cutting up the ship in the Grand Canal graving dock poses an environmental risk to the waters at the dock as well as a physical risk to the 200-year-old dry dock itself, listed as a protected structure.
The campaign also claims there are "irregularities" in the manner by which Waterways Ireland intends to dispose of the vessel, of which it recently took possession.