March 17, 2000
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

Minister pleased with Jeannie Johnston project out of Ireland

Charles Furey, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, is very pleased to announce that a replica of the famous Irish ship, the Jeannie Johnston, will make a voyage to the province later this year.

The Jeannie Johnston Project is one of the most ambitious maritime heritage projects undertaken in Ireland in recent years. It involves the construction of a full-size replica of the famous Irish emigrant barque Jeannie Johnston 1847-58 that carried emigrants from Tralee, South West Ireland to Baltimore, New York and Quebec during the famine years. Unlike the infamous "coffin ships" of the period, the Jeannie Johnston never lost a passenger or crew during the 16 trans-Atlantic voyages, and according to the ship�s log, stopped in St. John�s to pick up supplies.

"We are very excited about this great project, and are looking forward to the ship�s visit to the province later this year," said Minister Furey. "We have deep historic and cultural ties with Ireland and it is very appropriate that St. John�s will be the final port of call. We look forward to welcoming the ship and crew as we join with them in commemorating this meaningful event in history."

The replica ship is being built at Blennerville, near Tralee, Ireland, by young people from Northern and Southern Ireland under the supervision of shipwrights through a state-owned training and employment agency. On April 18, 2000, she will be launched and will make her Millennium Voyage to over 20 cities in North America, bringing with her the hopes and good wishes for a new and peaceful Ireland. Her last North American stop is tentatively scheduled for mid-November 2000 in St. John�s, for a three-to-four-day period before making her way back to Ireland.

Two berths on the ship will be made available for Newfoundlanders for the voyage from New York to St. John�s, and will be chosen by a selection committee of the organizers of the project, the Jeannie Johnston Memorial Committee of the Tralee Institute of Technology.

Media contact: Mary MacNab, Communications, (709) 729-0928, or (709) 682-0366.

2000 03 17 3:15 p.m.