MAJOR push to open facilities on Spike Island – John Mulvihill

Labour Cork East candidate John Mulvihill is to lobby council authorities to have restaurant facilities opened to encourage day visitors on Spike Island.

“We have a unique opportunity to develop a world class tourist attraction here in Cork Harbour – momentum is key. We must put in place incentives to have facilities opened up to attract visitors to the island immediately,” he said.

“The council needs to advertise for interested parties to run a restaurant on Spike and provide support for further development of small business facilities on the island, like a craft or souvenir shop,” Cllr Mulvihill said.

“Transport is in place already, now we have a window of opportunity to put facilities in place while work continues on the overall development of the island.”

“I want to see a restaurant – be that a diner or a tea shop or a family restaurant – opened on the island. It is imperative that we keep Spike on the agenda and that we as locals rally round to support new business initiatives,” Cllr Mulvihill said.

A report on the next stage of development on Spike Island is to be completed in March. A ferry service transporting visitors to and from the Cork Harbour island became operational last October. Walking tours of the island continue to operate, taking in the island’s prison and fort buildings and covering the history of the island, with evidence of settlement since the 7th century. The council hopes to develop Spike Island into a major new Alcatraz style tourist attraction in stages over the next ten to 15 years.