Cockroaches and rodent droppings among reasons for Closure Orders on food businesses in August
Search
10 Sept 2025
Search
10 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
The cruise ship leaving Greencastle on Tuesday morning after bad weather scuppered its visit. (Photo courtesy of Niall McCaughan, Go Visit Inishowen).
A cruise ship carrying more than one thousand passengers was unable to dock in Inishowen this week due to adverse weather conditions.
The massive 'Crystal Serenity' liner sailed into Greencastle Harbour early on Tuesday morning, September 9, however the choppy conditions in Lough Foyle left passengers stranded aboard.
The 250-metre-long ship – with capacity for 1,040 passengers and a crew of 655 – had been the last scheduled cruise call of a busy 2025 summer season for the Inishowen port.
Passengers arriving into Greencastle disembark cruise liners on smaller ‘tender’ vessels, which then ferry them ashore in groups of 100 or more. However, it was deemed to be too rough to launch the tenders on this occasion – and the ship left with its full complement of passengers still on board as a consequence.
Several buses had been arranged to bring the cruise guests on a number of different outings across Inishowen and Derry – but the coaches had to leave the pier empty-handed, and were seen travelling back through Moville again just before 9am on Tuesday morning.
A delegation from the Go Visit Inishowen tourist office had also been due to meet the disembarking passengers in Greencastle.
A spokesperson for Foyle Port explained what happened.
“Unfortunately, due to weather conditions, Crystal Serenity was unable to proceed with tendering operations in the interest of guest safety.”
“This is not unusual for tender ports – not only in Greencastle, but worldwide,” they said.
READ NEXT: Buncrana business meeting could lead to election candidates
That said, the Foyle Port official said it is quite rare for cruise passengers to be left unable to disembark at Greencastle.
“Greencastle is generally very sheltered, and we have enjoyed a successful season despite some challenging weather conditions.”
Meanwhile, after its brief Inishowen layover, the Crystal Serenity sailed on to the Scottish port of Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, before continuing its voyage.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
