The Fund In Your Area

The Lough Foyle Car Ferry Project  

The Lough Foyle Car Ferry Project was established under the auspices of the NWRCBG (North West Region Cross Border Group) through Donegal County Council and Limavady Borough Council in 2002 to provide a direct route between two areas on each side of the border - Magilligan Point in the borough of Limavady and Greencastle Harbour in Co. Donegal – where no previous link existed.

The year round commercial roll on/roll/off ferry service made its first sailing in June 2002 and it has proved to be a major success. By July 2005, it had celebrated carrying over one million passengers.

The project has been responsible for the direct creation of 10 full time jobs as part of the ferry service. In addition, it has provided infrastructure that is supporting tourism and economic development not only to the direct area, but also the wider north coast and Donegal. The ferry service has acted as a catalyst for wider tourism growth by attracting increasing numbers of tourists to the region. 

As a result, additional funding has been secured through the European Union’s INTERREG IIIA Programme to provide marketing support and training to the tourism sector in the area.

Known as Atlantic Drift, the project was to establish a touring route from the Causeway Coast to North and West Donegal. This aim has been met with the construction of tourist information signage along the route and the publication of tourism literature covering the routes and the creation of virtual touring routes online.

Funding for the £4.2m / €6.1m Lough Foyle Car Ferry Project was provided by the European Union Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (£2m / €2.9m), the International Fund for Ireland (£1m / €1.46m) and the Irish Government (£0.7m / €1,022,000), along with contributions from Limavady and Donegal County Councils (£0.5m / €730,000).     

For more information on the Lough Foyle Ferry visit www.loughfoyleferry.com.