New ferry is named by Duke

New ferry is named by Duke

26 July 2017

THE Duke of Kent paid a special visit to the district last week.

ON Wednesday afternoon he visited Down Cathedral, while the following morning he officially named the £6m new MV Strangford II during an on-board ceremony conducted in the middle of Strangford Lough. Before his visit to Strangford, the Duke stopped off at nearby Castleward where he met National Trust officials.

The Duke’s visit to the historic Downpatrick church was only the second by a member of the Royal family in almost 80 years He was joined by the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt. Rev. Harold Miller and the Dean of Down, the Very Rev. Henry Hull.

The Royal visitor, who was accompanied by The Lord Lieutenant for Co. Down, David Lindsay, was welcomed to Downpatrick by Sally King, Deputy Lord Lieutenant and a parishioner of Kilmore and Inch.

Also presented to the Duke at the Cathedral were the High Sheriff of Down, Hal Catherwood and his wife Natasha, Newry, Mourne and Down Council chairwoman, Roisin Mulgrew, the local authority’s Corporate Services Director Dorinnia Carville and Geraldine Hull, wife of the Dean.

In the Cathedral narthex, the Duke met some of the Cathedral Chapter and staff, members of the congregation and local clergy and signed the visitors’ book.

Dean Hull gave a brief history of the church which he explained has an important place in the life of the diocese and also welcomes many tourists. He said its location has been a centre of Christian worship since the 8th century and includes the site of St Patrick’s grave where the Duke laid a wreath.

The visitors also enjoyed the building’s marvellous acoustics with a short recital from organ scholar, Matthew Greenaway, who played ‘Paean’ by Philip Moore.  

Bishop Miller noted that His Royal Highness holds the title ‘Baron of Downpatrick’ and shares the name Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, before reading a portion from St Patrick’s Confession. The Bishop led two short prayers before inviting the Duke to lay the wreath.

Dean Hull said it was a “real pleasure” to welcome the Duke to Down Cathedral, explaining the Royal visitor once held the title ‘Lord Downpatrick’ which has now been passed to his grandson, who also visited the Cathedral some months ago.

“The Duke was particularly interested in the ecumenical dimension to the Cathedral’s ministry and I had the pleasure of introducing him to clergy representing all the churches in Downpatrick, as well as the Benedictine monks from Holy Cross Monastery, in Rostrevor, with whom we have a close relationship,” the Dean added.

Warm sunshine and a flat calm Strangford Lough welcomed the Duke on board the new multi-million pound ferry last Thursday which was adorned with special bunting to make the occasion.

After leaving the village for the short journey to Portaferry, the Royal visitor unveiled a plaque to officially name the MV Strangford II and was introduced to crew members and senior officials from the Department for Infrastructure, which is responsible for the ferry service.

The Duke marvelled at the stunning scenery as he crossed the internationally acclaimed waterway, with the new ferry escorted by PSNI officers in a powerful rib.

Among the officials introduced to the Duke were Department of Infrastructure Permanent Secretary Peter May, Mark McPeake, head of design and consultancy services and ferry service manager Tim Tew. His Royal Highness also met MV Strangford II crew members Paul Murphy, Ray Barlow and James Lenaghan with Alwyn Milligan at the wheel of the vessel for the official naming ceremony.

Also last week, the Royal visitor presented a Royal Humane Society award to ferry boat crew member John Nixon from Portavogie who saved a woman’s life in the harbour of his home village last year. 

During the April incident, John helped recover three people from the water and commenced first aid support to a woman until the Ards Peninsula First Responders arrived and gave further help.