2112 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Today's Sunday Opinion on the Government Mouthpiece is devoted to Cruise liners - Roger's Government apologists are Chris Robertshaw MHK's Son ................ Some bloke who runs Manx National Heritage and ............... Terry Toohey who is billed as a Cruise Expert. FFS it's so obvious the IOMG are going to waste money on this, we the stupid taxpayer are being suckered into how good it is that Manx Radio trots out it paid goons, ex goons and vested interests. I'm waiting for the words .......... National Importance and Vital to be trotted out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notwell Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 It should be examined and as a joint partnership with private investment. Definitely worth looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2112 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I think the only examination it needs is one by Ballaquackers! The Government should grow a set, give them the permission to crack on with the scheme, but IOMG won't be squandering any funds which they can't afford. The chances are the Shipping Association won't press ahead with scheme anyway. In the meantime it's pie in the sky dreaming................ we need a real dose of realty! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkle Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I think there's too much realty emty at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody2 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I thought at first, who the heck thought of this completely idiotic idea, until I did some digging. Orkney is just a small example. Look at Madeira. Before you say warm and sunny, their cruise season is their winter. However, now spreading into their summer. Like most islands, if you are there for a day, you can either pay a fortune for a tour, or walk about town and have a few pints and lunch. Over the past 20 years, Madeira has grown from being a very minor tourist island to being quite a major one. The Azores are just starting on this transformation. Watch this space. Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin are all jumping on the cruise game. We would be completely. Stupid not to at least look at it! Orkney got £4 million into the local economy from cruise passengers With a deepwater ship berth costing in the hundreds of millions I cannot see any way of repaying the cost before the thing wears out To give you an example of a cheaper tourism investment look at Majorca. They had funds available and were considering building yet another marina, instead they invested in making the islands roads cycle friendly by widening some of the main routes and putting a 1.5 meter wide cycleway on one side The result was a massive uptake in cycle holidays in the spring & autumn when the weather was cool enough I was there last April and they had 25,000 cyclists a week going through the place, using hotels, cafes, bike hire shops, the airlines & ferries and spending considerably more than a tea & scone day tripper A huge and ongoing return for a modest investment http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-30794701 Put a presentation together and invite Tynwald members get an expert in from Majorca and they'll lap it up. apart from cyclists never spend money hence why the cycle week stopped Easy Jet fare150.00 Euro Hotel rate 60.00 Euro per night Bike hire 19.00 Euro per day Food, lunch 12 euro, Dinner 22 Euro per day T shirts, bike clothing etc another 50 Euro It is not 1965 any more steam-racket £40 tent-£10 (for 4) bike hire- n/a food-lunch £1 sandwich from tesco £5 takeaway cycle week stopped in 2003, it made no money. uk have spent a fortune on national cyclists routes, no one uses them.the lycra clad idiots prefer to use the roads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I think the only examination it needs is one by Ballaquackers! The Government should grow a set, give them the permission to crack on with the scheme, but IOMG won't be squandering any funds which they can't afford. The chances are the Shipping Association won't press ahead with scheme anyway. In the meantime it's pie in the sky dreaming................ we need a real dose of realty! I agree. If it's such a sure fire winner then they should just let these private companies pump millions into it and give them a 100% share of all the 'profits'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody2 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 as for needing a full length floating pontoon- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homarus Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 It should be examined and as a joint partnership with private investment. Definitely worth looking at. Even subsidising the SP with 1 million a year could bring an extra 25,000 foot passengers per year . So just run that by me again how a proposal that "could" bring an extra 6,000 people per year ashore for 8 hours max and will require long millions before they even start work on any proposed project is a better bet? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody2 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 £16,200 income yet with these magic beans we can turn it into £3 million (loss per year) cost of beans=£100 million of taxpayer money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homarus Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Very few of us are qualified to comment on the technical aspects of the proposal. I do however agree that on the face of it, a floating pontoon on the seaward side of the breakwater seems a bit daft, it's called a breakwater for a reason, so the proposal calling it 'Alexander Pier' would appear to be an attempt to mislead or dupe people that it is safe! There were very few of us qualified to comment on the technical aspects of the first linkspan, this was effectively a steel bridge with a float on the end. It was installed in 1977 before the breakwater extension and many of us who knew the harbour questioned how it would stand up to the swells produced by an easterly gale Reassurances were given that it had been designed by engineers to cope with swell of up to 1.5 meters. We pointed out that swells of 5 meters were not uncommon. We were told not to worry. The linkspan opened in August facilitating our first ro-ro vessel operated by Manxline I was living above the harbour and in September of that year with the first of the easterlies blowing hard I woke to the massive sound of tearing and crashing metal. Dawn broke to reveal the linkspan wrenched from its hinges and lay half submerged across the middle of the harbour When the seacat was first brought here on a promotional visit, many of us locals went on it for a 1 hr jolly. At the end of the trip some bloke in a suit with a flipchart gave us a talk extolling the virtues of the fastcraft. We were quite impressed, the first question from the audience was " what are you going to replace it with in the winter ?" Suity bloke then tell the audience that they have looked at the weather patterns for the Irish sea and that there will be only one or two days a year when this boat can't operate Cue hoots of derision from the crowd and a very puzzled and offended suity bloke packs up his chart and buggers off Some 18 months later said boat is charging toward the bar lightship in a blow when it ploughs into a wall of water and wrenches the bow visor off it's mountings. Boat limps back to Liverpool to be replaced with the Lady of Man, a small sideloader built to withstand the Irish Sea You don't always need to be an expert to see when something isn't going to work, local knowledge is worth a lot Ignoring all that for a moment, the whole point of this absurd project is an exercise in parting the Manx government from it's money. The practicalities will of building it and the non-existent business case will be glossed over until the various parties involved have been paid millions in consulting fees. They will then conclude that it's a non-starter and bugger off to spend the money on a new car and a house extension Last paragraph nails it ! Time after time Manx Gov/taxpayer have had their pants pulled down and arses smacked by numerous snake oil salesmen over the past several decades and "Lessons will always be learnt " !! Start learning them you Qupid stunts and please start quickly !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2112 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 If ever there was a radio show full of vested interests and government propaganda it is Sunday Opinion. Today's is totally biased. Have MR sought an opposing viewpoint? Even somebody just to play devils advocate? MNH Southworth will extol this scheme a) he is paid to anyway b) MNH have a vested interests in this project and c) I'm sure Southworth will get time off in lieu to attend MR and no doubt will be promoting the scheme on the Moanin Line. With so many vested interests running the show, no wonder we are fcuked! Even worse, Tynpotwalders don't have the bottle to ask questions, they are merely nodding dogs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 If ever there was a radio show full of vested interests and government propaganda it is Sunday Opinion. Today's is totally biased. Have MR sought an opposing viewpoint? Even somebody just to play devils advocate? MNH Southworth will extol this scheme a) he is paid to anyway b) MNH have a vested interests in this project and c) I'm sure Southworth will get time off in lieu to attend MR and no doubt will be promoting the scheme on the Moanin Line. With so many vested interests running the show, no wonder we are fcuked! Even worse, Tynpotwalders don't have the bottle to ask questions, they are merely nodding dogs Did they cover what happening with the new landing stage after we paid £3.5m for it? I missed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homarus Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 (edited) If ever there was a radio show full of vested interests and government propaganda it is Sunday Opinion. Today's is totally biased. Have MR sought an opposing viewpoint? Even somebody just to play devils advocate? MNH Southworth will extol this scheme a) he is paid to anyway b) MNH have a vested interests in this project and c) I'm sure Southworth will get time off in lieu to attend MR and no doubt will be promoting the scheme on the Moanin Line. With so many vested interests running the show, no wonder we are fcuked! Even worse, Tynpotwalders don't have the bottle to ask questions, they are merely nodding dogs Did they cover what happening with the new landing stage after we paid £3.5m for it? I missed it. Laxey towing companies private berth most of the time I believe? Edited January 22, 2017 by homarus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homarus Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 If ever there was a radio show full of vested interests and government propaganda it is Sunday Opinion. Today's is totally biased. Have MR sought an opposing viewpoint? Even somebody just to play devils advocate? MNH Southworth will extol this scheme a) he is paid to anyway b) MNH have a vested interests in this project and c) I'm sure Southworth will get time off in lieu to attend MR and no doubt will be promoting the scheme on the Moanin Line. With so many vested interests running the show, no wonder we are fcuked! Even worse, Tynpotwalders don't have the bottle to ask questions, they are merely nodding dogs MNH and the Coach firms will be the main local benificiaries here ,not many others I think ? The Manx gov have spent long millions over the years on MNH attractions which great though they are to have, do not turn profit Passengers bussed around MNH sites and back to the ship would obviously make those attractions look not quite such a waste of taxpayer monies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody2 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 add in the cost of new tills everywhere, its a CS wetdream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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