It has been confirmed today that the new contract for the Ballycastle/Rathlin Ferry has been awarded to Mr Ciarán O’Driscoll, whose  companies currently provide ferry services to islands off the coast of County Cork.

The Northern Ireland Department responsible for the service has secured the continuing use of the roll-on/roll-off  ferry, MV Canna, to provide vehicle and freight services. The  Canna is owned by Caledonian Maritime Assets  Limited and will be leased to the new operator. She will be used to service the route along with a new catamaran, to be commissioned by Mr O’Driscoll, for service in summer 2009. Until then, the enhanced timetable will be provided by the MV Canna and a smaller mono-hulled  vessel, which can carry up to 38 passengers on the 20 minute crossing.

The Department is working towards a date for handover of the contract of 1 June 2008.

The new contract has been awarded for a six year period over which the Department have committed to providing a subsidy totaling just under £4million.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) will apply to the staff currently employed on the route.  No job losses are envisaged.

CalMac Managing Director Lawrie Sinclair said: Caledonian MacBrayne believes that through the service offered in recent years, which has seen significant growth, we have established a track record as a safe, reliable, and dependable ferry operator and we are grateful to the island community on Rathlin for their cooperation and assistance over the years. We also believe we submitted a robust bid which would offer significant improvements for the island and its community. We wish the island well in the future and will now address any outstanding issues which have to be managed whilst preparing for the hand-over. We would also like to thank the staff in Ballycastle and the crew for their continued good work during their time with us and we wish them well for the future. We will be visiting them soon to complete all the arrangements we have to make and are pleased that no job losses are anticipated.