A former smuggling vessel which is to become an artificial reef off Killala Bay is due to arrive this afternoon.
The MV Shingle was seized by Customs officers at Drogheda Port as part of a €14m tobacco seizure in 2014 and was held by the Revenue Commission.
It sat in the dry dock at New Ross for the past ten years.
Earlier this year, a Maritime Area Consent license was granted to the Killala Bay Ships 2 Reef project team, a group of diving enthusiasts, to allow them to tow the Shingle to Killala Bay for sinking.
Planning permission was then granted by Mayo County Council in July of this year for the preparation, transportation, positioning and placement of the MV Shingle on the seabed of Killala Bay.
The ship will arrive in Killala shortly and will be sunk tomorrow afternoon.
As Ireland’s first artificial reef, it is hoped that the project will bring a major tourism boost to the region.
The project has been spear headed by Fianna Fáil cllr Michael Loftus, who spoke to Midwest Radio’s Rian Bailey this afternoon:
