The tears in the eyes of the men and women on the quayside at St.John's in Newfoundland on a cold, wet, storm-blown, miserable Sunday afternoon arose from emotion and joy. They had queued in the howling wind and rain to get aboard the famine replica ship, the Jeanie Johnston, as it rose and fell at its quayside berth. They wanted to see how their ancestors had voyaged from Ireland in Famine times. What they saw led to tears of emotion as they toured the display below decks on the wooden ship, giving an indication of what Irish emigrants, driven from their homes by a combination of hunger, deprivation and the abuse of uncaring landlords of the time, suffered as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean in search of freedom and a new life. The prevailing conditions on that October afternoon provided a realistic feeling of what life must have been like in the cramped conditions of the original Jeanie Johnston. There wouldn't have been much space for its passengers, men, women and children, and there would have been seasickness, discomfort, suffering. But eventually, every passenger aboard this ship reached a new life as she headed for Canada.

For the story of the Jeanie Johnston is not the story of a 'coffin ship' as so many of the vessels which took Irish emigrants away from Erin's shores were. The Jeanie Johnston, which sailed from Blennerville in Tralee, Co. Kerry, distinguished herself as a ship which never lost a passenger on her crossings. Eventually, on a return passage with crew and cargo only, she did founder, but even then and unusually for the times, all of the crew were rescued by a passing vessel. She carried a doctor and her passengers were comparatively well looked after.

The replica Jeanie Johnston has also distinguished herself, but the ship has also been at the centre of controversy. The idea to construct her was conceived originally as a Millennium project which would see her re-enact the original voyaging. But her construction went well beyond budget and over-ran by many millions of Euro. As a result the consortium backing the project, Kerry County Council, Tralee Urban Council, Shannon Development Company and the Department of the Marine, got cold feet and wanted to back out of the plan to sail her to America. Only the commitment of dedicated volunteers who worked hard to keep the project moving and the backing of a powerful international agri-business, the Kerry Group, kept the Jeanie Johnston afloat. There is no credit due to local politicians in Kerry who suggested that the ship should be "burned in Tralee Bay." They surely failed to understand the importance of Irish history and maritime tradition and culture.

The ship was eventually completed, but was derided by loud-mouthed critics who understood little of the complexities of building a wooden tall ship and who ignored the high cost of doing so all over the world. They also overlooked the several other Irish State projects that have run considerably over-budget and the Irish Government's largesse to other activities, notably horse-racing which did not get the same criticism as this maritime project. Generally the project was ridiculed in the media and inaccurate reporting also damaged the project's reputation.

Yet, skilled and experienced mariners were recruited and sailed the ship successfully to North American shores, visiting many ports and attracting over 100,000 visitors and earning considerable money for the ship. The voyage ended in Newfoundland, where the Irish community often feels it has been forgotten by Ireland. And so when the Jeanie arrived in St John's Port, capital of Newfoundland, there was an overwhelming and joyous reaction.

On her outward voyage from Kerry in February 2003 she encountered severe weather conditions while on her return voyage in October/November 2003, she ran once again into violent weather conditions. But she overcame them all, and was praised by the ship's crew for her sea-keeping abilities.

Welcoming the ship and its crew home, President McAleese paid a special visit to the vessel when it berthed in Dublin and spoke highly of what it had achieved. The vessel has been described as a "ship of peace" as it brought together young people from North and South of the Border, and from across the religious and political divide, who sailed together as friends and sail trainees.

They overcame any differences between them, saw and experienced a sense of Irishness that can transcend the Border and the divisions and differences of history. In an interview, one of those trainees, a teenage girl from Dublin, said to me in answer to a question about whether the divisions and differences between the backgrounds of the trainees from North and South created difficulties in the restricted space of a ship. "Mister," she said, "there is no 'I' in team..." meaning that there is no independence in team work, which sailtraining teaches.  There have been other strong supporters of this North/South aspect of the Jeanie and its voyages, politicians from both sides of the Northern divide -John Hume and David Irvine amongst them.

But what is to be the future of this ship?

The Irish Government and State and local authorities have not covered themselves with glory in this regard, despite all that the ship has achieved. There is, it appears, a desire to try to forget the ship now, to distance it from those in authority who do not, apparently, want the cost or responsibility of continuing to operate it. Why is a marine project that has proved its worth neglected?

The project should not have run over its budget, but that aspect has been highlighted to the exclusion of all its achievements. No official cost has been put publicly on the operation of the ship for a year, but sources tell me it could be in the region of 1-1.2 million Euro. However if the ship is sold off to buyers outside of Ireland, it will compound the financial loss. It is time for courageous forward-thinking to ensure that the Jeanie Johnston continues to sail and to represent Ireland as it has already shown it can do. .