#NaomhEanna - A vessel considered the 'last Irish heritage ship' is set to be cut up this week as a campaign mounts to save her from the scrapheap.
The Naomh Eanna was built in 1956 in Dublin's Docklands and previously served as a passenger ferry in Galway Bay between the mainland and the Aran Islands.
Said to be "one of the last riveted ships built in the world", she has spent the last 28 years in a state of neglect at Grand Canal Dock and is reported to be taking on water, though it's believed she retains many of her original fittings and machine parts.
Last week it emerged that ownership of the Naomh Eanna has transferred to Waterways Ireland, who intend to tow her into the Grand Canal graving dock this week to begin disposal.
But according to Sam Field Corbett of marine heritage restoration business Irish Ship & Barge Fabrication, "no consideration was given to salvage and restore her".
Corbett says he is confident that a business plan can be prepared to attract investment for the Naomh Eanna's restoration - but fears that the scrapping plans may proceed with haste before any alternative resolution is considered.
In order for campaigners to save her, some €100,000 costs to Waterways Ireland would need to be met, on top of insuring the vessel and getting permission from NAMA to hold her in dry dock until repairs could begin.
