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Ireland’s largest domestic passenger ferry arrived in Galway from Hong Kong and will begin operating next year.
Saoirse na Farraige has been commissioned by Aran Island Ferries and can carry 400 passengers, providing a much-needed tourism boost for the region.
Made in Hong Kong: It is the largest domestic ship of its size and was today left by a heavy cargo ship in Galway Bay.
The entire operation took several hours before the purpose-built ferry was safely positioned in the Atlantic Ocean.
Saoirse na Farraige will operate between Inis Mór and the ports of Ros a Mhíl and Galway.
The 40-meter ship came from the Far East to the Far West opening the Aran Islands to an expansion of tourism in the future.
Aran Island Ferries is run by the O’Brien family from Connemara.
Paddy and his father Michael began sailing to the Aran Islands in their Galway Hooker ‘An Tonai’ taking turf to the Aran Islands for trade in the 1960s.
The decline of the turf trade caused them to switch their business to passenger ferries.
The first engine was installed in 1969, reducing the travel time from Rossaveel to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Before this, the trip could last 10-15 hours!
Paddy’s son, Niall O’Brien, is a director of Aran Island Ferries.
He said the company has been working on this multi-million euro investment for several years.
“We had timed our launch to coincide with Galway 2020 and reap the benefits derived from tourism. Sadly, that did not happen with unforeseen hurdles and then Covid-19 appeared. Had we known what to expect we could have delayed our plans, but with luckily things will get better for us and other companies in the future. “
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