Minister Éamon Ó Cuív transfers Spike Island to Cork County Council on behalf of the Government
Written by Eamon Ó Cuív Sunday, 11 July 2010
This afternoon Sunday (11th of July 2010) on behalf of the Government, Éamon Ó Cuív TD, Minister for Social Protection handed over Spike Island to Cork County Council.
The 11th of July also marks the 72nd anniversary of the handover of Spike Island to the Irish State and the 89th anniversary of the truce declared between British and Irish forces during the War of Independence.Speaking in Cork, Minister Ó Cuív said: “In July 2009 my colleague, Minister Dermot Ahern secured Government agreement to transfer Spike Island from his Department of Justice and Law Reform to Cork County Council to allow them to explore the tourism potential of the Island. I now have the proud task to formally complete the Government's wish that the Island be put to best use.”
Over the centuries the Island has seen monastic settlements, penal colonies and military bases established on its shores. The Island closed as a prison in 2004.
Speaking today on the Island, Minister Ó Cuív said it was a special day for Cork and for him personally: “Spike Island has a long history. The first known use of the Island was as a monastic settlement. It was first used as a place of confinement in the 17th century following the end of the Cromwellian wars when it was used to hold prisoners to be transported to the West Indies. During the late 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, Spike Island was used as a prison by the British to hold prisoners to be transported to the colonies. Transportation to the colonies ceased in the 1850s and the prison population at Spike Island grew to about 2,000.
“By 1883, a decline in the overall number of prisoners led to the closure of the prison and it once again reverted to being a military establishment. The Island remained in British hands until July 1938 when the last British troops departed the Island. The Treaty Ports were handed back to the Irish state and our national flag, the Irish tricolour was raised on Spike Island - 72 years ago to this day - by my grandfather the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera.”
Minister Ó Cuív continued: “Moving forward to today's historic event, the Government was open to seeing what potential tourism opportunities the Island could bring to this county and the Munster region. That is why we asked a group of officials to look at its tourism potential in 2007. By coincidence Cork County Council saw a tremendous opportunity to work with Government to ensure that the best potential could be got from the Island.
“For many Irish people this Island was their last stop before they were shipped to other parts of the world. Some of the story of our Irish diaspora started its journey from this Island and it is my hope that their descendants will return here to see where their own individual family journeys began. Cork County Council plans to transform Spike Island into a major tourism landmark, highlighting the role the Island has played in our history. I have no doubt that all associated with this exciting plan to harness the heritage tourism potential of the Island will work tirelessly to bring this about.”
