An Irish Planning Students Blog

Only time will tell!

SPIKE ISLAND was officially handed over to Cork County Council yesterday for use as a tourist amenity amid efforts to develop it into an attraction comparable to Alcatraz in the US.

Alcatraz in San Francisco, which was only a prison for 20 years, attracts about 1.4 million visitors each year while Fort McHenry, off Baltimore, which served as a transit prison during the American Civil War, receives about 700,000 visitors annually.

Spike was first a prison in the mid-19th century, often the last place in Ireland prisoners saw before being transported overseas. At the time it held as many as 2,500 prisoners. (more…)

CORK COUNTY Council hopes to open Spike Island in Cork Harbour to the public by the summer as the first step towards developing the former prison island as a major tourist attraction, according to county manager Martin Riordan.

At the beginning a ferry will be used but the option of building a cable car for tourists from the mainland is being examined. He told The Irish Times the council aimed to allow the public access to the island as soon as possible once health and safety issues had been resolved, with a ferry connection from Cobh the most likely option at this stage for getting visitors on to the island.

“It remains our target to get people out on to the island by mid-2010. There’s a pent-up demand from a lot of people to get out to Spike, people who have a connection with the island through family or people who worked there and simply want to see the place,” he said.

Last July the Government transferred ownership of the 106-acre island including Fort Mitchel, which was used as a prison up until 2004, from the Department of Justice to Cork County Council to enable the council to explore the island’s tourism potential.

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PLANS TO develop Spike Island in Cork Harbour as a major tourist attraction moved a step closer yesterday when an inaugural meeting was held of a special steering committee set up by Cork county manager Martin Riordan to develop the island.

Mr Riordan has said he hopes to open Spike Island to the public in 2010 through the provision of a ferry service, but the long-term hope is to develop the former prison into a major tourist attraction.

The Government transferred ownership of the island, including Fort Mitchel, which was used as a prison, from the Department of Justice to Cork County Council last July to enable the council explore the island’s tourism potential.

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