#SaveShip! - Time is running out to save iconic Naomh Eanna, a former Aran Islands ferry and freight ship, writes Galway Independent.

A voluntary group which hoped to return the ship to Galway into a maritime attraction at the Long Walk. They are calling on Galway businesses to help save the ship, after their funding application was rejected by Failte Ireland, due to what the group called “a form filling error”.

The Naomh Eanna was built in Dublin in 1956 and carried passengers and supplies to the Aran Islands. The ship worked this route for her entire life and was retired in 1988.

Captain Sam Field Corbett of the SOS Naomh Eanna Campaign group explained that the group had secured €1m in private equity funding on the strength of grant assistance of €750k from Failte Ireland.

He explained, “During a meeting organised by Galway Port Company in early 2016 it was agreed our proposal to restore the ship and present her as a major tourist attraction in our Dock on Long Walk in Galway fitted the requirements for Grant assistance under the Failte Ireland major tourism grant scheme.

“Our volunteers put together the comprehensive proposal and we completed the Failte Ireland application form on time for the August 2016 deadline.”

Last month the group were stunned to discover the application was never even presented to the Board, they said, “due to a single omission on our part”. “We were further dismayed that it took 7 months to disclose this.”

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