The cruise ship business is worth 100 million euro to the Irish economy, and is an instrument for attracting visitors back to Ireland, according to Cruise Ireland chairman Conor Mowlds.
He spoke to this week’s RTÉ Radio 1 Seascapes programme on the value of the business to Irish ports, right round the coast from Bantry and Cork to Dun Laoghaire, Belfast, Killybegs and Galway.
Sustainable cruise tourism in terms of the volume of ship calls to Irish ports, and respect for the environment is a priority, Mowlds said.
Cruise liners have to operate within very stringent regulations which are becoming even more so, he said, and monitoring in Irish waters is a matter for port state control.
Cruise Ireland chairman Conor Mowlds
Seascapes includes a revealing report by Eimer McAuley on what life is like for those working on cruise ships.
McAuley visited a cruise ship in Cobh, Cork, with port chaplain Colin Jenkins of the Seafarers’ Christian Friends Society, and spoke to some of the 1,400 staff on board.
She heard about the hardship of 12 hours shifts by crew hailing from the Philippines, India, Indonesia, South African, Zimbabwe and other countries.
“I only call my family and sleep,” one crew member told her, saying that most of those on board are so busy that they only go ashore once or twice in a cruise.
Listen to the full programme here
