On Sunday the 2nd of June the Valentia Island Lighthouse at Cromwell Point was opened to the public for the first time. This would not have been possible without the combined efforts of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, Kerry County Council; South Kerry Development Partnership (SKDP) and Valentia Island Development Company. The County Manager Tom Curran, the CEO of the Irish Lights, Yvonne Shields and Sean de Buitlear of SKDP, all spoke at the opening and conveyed how happy they were to be involved this project.
The lighthouse project would not have been feasible without the help received from SKDP .The site required a great deal of work to comply with Health & Safety standards before it could be open to the public. This work was facilitated by SKDP through its TÚS & RSS employment schemes.
The day to day running of the lighthouse is currently managed by 6 TÚS workers who facilitate its summer opening times; 11am to 5:30pm 7 days a week. To date, they have guided over a thousand people around the lighthouse and all feedback has been very positive.
