The replica famine ship Jeanie Johnstonsailed into Tralee Bay this morning for sea-worthiness trials.
The Chairman of the project Mr Jim Finucane told ireland.compreliminary results were very positive. Mr Finucane said despite the bad publicity the project had received there was still "remarkable interest" in it.
Based in Blennerville, Co Kerry, the project to replicate a famine ship and sail it across the Atlantic was almost scrapped after it ran more than €10 million over budget.
The vessel was nearing completion when a creditor secured a directive, halting the project.
Now owned by Tralee Local Authority, the future of the vessel still remains unclear.
In February, the Minister for the Marine Mr Frank Fahey submitted a damning report on the project detailing its financial shortcomings to the Cabinet, said the original cost of building the Jeannie Johnstonwas put at €3.8 million and "the final sum looks like being €14.3 million."
He said the only option was to wind down the company and to look at possible uses for the ship including having it as a visitor attraction during 2002.
"We want to pay off the creditors and allow Kerry County Council to take ownership of the vessel and try and agree on its future," Mr Fahey said.
When the plan ran into financial problems, the Government launched a €4 million package to ensure the building job was finished.
But Mr Fahey said it was not a question of having poured good money after bad - rather saving up to €8 million that would otherwise have been lost.
The original Jeanie Johnstonwas one of many hundreds of hastily converted cargo ships pressed into service as emigrant transport ships on the North Atlantic route during the Great Famine in the late 1840s.
Despite the cramped conditions by today's standards, the Jeanie Johnstonwas a well-run ship and, unlike the infamous "coffin ships" of the famine period, the Jeanie Johnstonnever lost a passenger to disease or the sea.