Newsletter update - Wednesday 1st April
Some very good news....(and no - it’s not an April Fool!)

We are delighted to announce that Conor and the negotiating team from West Cork Tourism have just returned from Finland having agreed the basis for a deal for the purchase of the Julia!

This deal now has to be ratified by the creditors of Stella Line (the owners of the ship) - and we are very optimistic that they will approve the deal, and that we can then go ahead and purchase the ship!

The details of the deal will be presented to the investment co-operative at the first shareholders meeting in Skibbereen on Tuesday 7th April 2009 at 8 p.m. in the West Cork Hotel.

This meeting will elect officers and hear details of the deal negotiated in Finland. Only fully paid up shareholders will be eligible to vote at the meeting which is not open to the public. In the absence of a receipt from the co-op solicitors we will require proof of payment.
Syndicates can only be represented by nominees and in the case where you have not been notified of your nominee this will be arranged in the next few days.

It's not too late....!
...to get involved in the co-op – our Pledge Investment scheme is still open to new investors – but if you want to join in time to vote at the meeting on 7th April then you'd better get a move on !
Here's the link to our Investment Page – you can either pledge online, or contact Paul O'Brien (on (International) +353 87 785 7619 or (Ireland 087 785 7619).).
We have had a massive response to our appeal for Pledge Investors – and it's thanks to you kind folks that we've been able to negotiate to buy the ship.

Another way to help the campaign...
Many of you have contacted us, asking if there's any way that we can accept smaller individual contributions to the project. Now we can !

To become an investor, you still need to find a minimum amount of €1,000 – but if you can't commit that amount we now have a new 'Donations' scheme. This is set up via Paypal, so that you can instantly and securely donate any amount of cash, that will then be administered by the co-op to help defray the quite substantial costs associated with setting up the co-op and the negotiation process.
Everybody working on this project has been doing so on an unpaid, voluntary basis – and this will continue. There have been (and will continue to be) significant costs – including legal expenses, overseas travelling and similar costs – and your kind donations will help to reimburse some of these.

Thank you for your support – without it we couldn't have got this far!
Adrian – Campaign Co-organiser 1/4/09