Local support

Alun Michael was First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales when he first met Alan Priddy and gave strong support to the Spirit of Cardiff venture. He and the local Assembly Member for Cardiff South and Penarth, Lorraine Barrett (pictured here with Alan) believe that the project "captures the spirit and energy of the new Cardiff".

Alan Priddy, Lorraine Barrett AM & Alun Michael MP

Cardiff Bay, and the Spirit of Cardiff visitor centre, is at the heart of the Cardiff Bay Development, described as Europe's most exciting waterfront development. Once the largest coal exporting port in the world, Cardiff's decline has been turned around by the redevelopment of the city centre in the 1980s and now the rejuvenation of the docklands area around a freshwater lake. As the local MP, Alun Michael argued passionately for the project for eight years until the Cardiff Bay Barrage Act became law, enabling the development to go ahead. He and Lorraine Barrett see the Spirit of Cardiff project as reflecting the spirit and energy that marks the new Cardiff, and he has enthusiastically promoted the project with contacts in the USA as well as the United Kingdom.

        Local Assembly Member Lorraine Barrett has drawn a parallel between the boat and the city: "Anyone who visits Cardiff now and who remembers this area before the development went ahead will have a real shock. It was dirty and abandoned -- and nobody went near the waterside. Now it is exciting and full of people enjoying themselves and it's the home of the new National Assembly as well as a host of new businesses. It's ambitious and it's alive! It was teamwork that got us here; the local authority, business people and Government bodies all working together like a single crew."

        Alun Michael comments "When we embarked on the regeneration of Cardiff over 20 years ago, few people dreamed that we would be able to succeed to the extent that has proved possible. That's why talking about the 'Spirit of Cardiff' is so appropriate. The boat and its crew will set out with a clear sense of where they are going and what they want to achieve, but with a sense that it's a hell of a long journey and that they can expect problems and unexpected obstacles on the way. But if they worried about it they would never get started. I've been impressed by the fact that Alan and his team regard obstacles to be overcome, not a reason for giving in. In Cardiff and in Wales generally we're overcoming the pessimists and promoting the 'Can Do' spirit - the Spirit of Cardiff."