Tarbert (County Kerry) 4.56

Tarbert is a town in the north of County Kerry, with woodland to the south and the Shannon estuary to the north. It lies on the N69 coast road that runs along the estuary from Limerick before turning inland at Tarbert towards Listowel, and has two schools Tarbert Primary and Tarbert Comprehensive.Tarbert IslandThe nearby island is linked to the mainland by a short isthmus - the site of the boat portage that gave its name to both the island and the town. There is a car ferry service from the island to the town of Killimer, near Kilrush in Clare. This service, operated by Shannon Ferries, provides a link between the N69 in Kerry and the N68 in Clare.Also on the island is a small lighthouse and an electricity plant with four oil-fired turbines and a capacity of 640MW. This plant, opened in 1969, was the site of an explosion in 2003 that killed two workers and seriously injured another. The plant was due to be de-commissioned in 2010, with the loss of 130 jobs. However the plant was purchased by Spanish power company Endesa (Spain) in January 2009 securing the jobs for up to 75% of the staff and the remaining 25% will be redeployed within the ESB. The new owners plan to convert the plant to gas turbines by 2012, which should secure the future of the plant for decades to come.