The future of Kilmore Quay's unique ship/museum may be, quite literally, in the melting pot. For the past 10 years, the former lightship, Guillemot, housing an extensive collection of maritime artefacts and historical material, has been an eye-catching feature of the Co Wexford fishing port - first moored at the quayside, and more recently solidly embedded in the concrete structure of the harbour.
From June to September each year, Reg Jarvis has donned the uniform of an Irish Lights captain every morning and welcomed visitors to the maritime museum, where they can explore the cabins and hear commentaries in English, French or German on the displays.
Now Reg, in his 70s, feels he must relinquish his voluntary service as curator, and unless either private enterprise or the local authority takes over the running of it, the Guillemot could finally be scrapped.
Built in Leith, Scotland, in 1922, the ship ceased service off the Irish coast in the late 1960s and was brought to Wexford, where it was converted into a maritime museum berthed at the quays.
Following an incident of major vandalism there, it was put up for sale and an enterprising group who formed the Kilmore Quay Maritime Society purchased it as a community project.
Designated as a permanent museum of maritime history dedicated to the men of Kilmore who served on the lightships down the years, it has attracted more than 28,000 visitors in the past decade.
The trustees still have a small outstanding bank debt from the original purchase, and income from the modest admission fee was cut off for two years during the major redevelopment work on Kilmore Quay harbour.
The Guillemot is now for sale, but several prospective buyers who were interested in converting it into a restaurant have shied off on learning that such an enterprise would incur a substantial rates bill from the county council each year.
Reg Jarvis, at least, can dedicate no more of his life to the project. A former accountant, he was always interested in model-making, and in fact has made most of the detailed ship models on display in the Guillemot.
Visitors have been able to inspect the inner workings of a lightship which has all its cabins intact. They have been introduced to a history of shipping, from Noah's Ark to the Ark Royal, and a wealth of printed and photographic material on Irish maritime history.
"I would like to see it carrying on as a museum here. It's part of the Irish heritage," says Reg. "There's no question about it - it's a unique thing."
Whether the 102-ft-long iron and steel vessel will finally end its days in the scrapyard remains to be seen. It will probably cost more to extract it now from the solid concrete and dispose of it, than it would to buy it, but the economics of operating it in some commercial fashion are problematic and Kilmore Quay may lose what has become a unique visitor attraction and a familiar feature of the harbour.