Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)

I want to speak briefly about a social enterprise project I recently visited in south Wexford. I refer to the Helen Blake lifeboat restoration project, which is a really wonderful example of what is possible in the area of social enterprise. This is a story which was born out of a tragedy. On the 20 February 1914, a Norwegian ship, the SS Mexico, ran aground on rocks off the coast of Wexford during a serious storm. A lifeboat was dispatched from Fethard-on-Sea to rescue those on board. Unfortunately, nine of the 14 very brave crew members of the lifeboat, the Helen Blake, who set out on that rescue mission drowned. The lifeboat, with the five surviving crew members on board, continued on its journey and rescued the crew of the ship. As stated, this happened back in 1914. However, the story still resonates across south Wexford. Many of the descendants of the five survivors and the families of those who perished still live in Fethard-on-Sea.

The local community has come together and embarked on a social enterprise restoration project to create a replica of the Helen Blake lifeboat. Over the past number of years, members of the community, using some grant funding provided by the Department, have worked together on this project. The idea is that it would serve as a tourism initiative whereby individuals could come to Fethard-on-Sea, launch on the replica boat from the same area from which the original launched in 1914 and sail out and see the beautiful scenery that is to be found off the Wexford coastline. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of so many people involved with what is a very hard-working committee, it has become apparent that greater investment is needed. The project committee is locked out of grant applications because it drew down funding during the first and second stages. Given the increased costs involved in construction, particularly for timber, since Covid, the committee has discovered that the grants and the moneys raised through the initial fundraising that was done are not sufficient to see the project through to completion. This is an opportunity for a social enterprise project based in south Wexford. I encourage the Department to engage and work with me in respect of it. Let us see a boat that is 90% finished get all the way there. This should happen because of the historic story of the tragedy and the nature of the project for the communities in south Wexford, particularly that in Fethard-on-Sea.