A planned €200 million expansion project at Dublin Port has been put forward for consideration.
Dublin Port Company (DPC) has submitted a planning application to be approved by An Bord Pleanala, in hopes of redeveloping the Alexandra Basin.
Dredging operations will result in the deepening of almost 42 percent, three kilometres of Dublin’s seven kilometres of berths.
A further 10 kilometres of channel that links the Dublin Bay to the East Link Bridge will also be deepened.
It is expected that by increasing depth, the port will not only accommodate larger vessels, but that cruise ship passengers will triple up to 320,000 passengers annually.
The project will be carried out over a series of phases to be completed in the next five years and will support up to 200 construction jobs in the process.
The Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) comes as the first of several developmental projects dictated under DPC’s Masterplan 2012 – 2040.
According to the DPC website, “the Masterplan” was composed to “plan for future sustainable growth and changes in facilitating trade in goods and passenger movements to and from Ireland, and Dublin in particular.”
This includes port development, with hopes to increase port handling volumes up to 60 million tonnes annually by 2040. It is further hoped that by following project outlines and reaching aims each year, Dublin Port will create an extra 320 jobs annually.
Speaking to Dublin People, Eamonn O’Reilly, chief executive of DPC spoke of the importance of the project, which will allow the Irish port to better cope with larger vessels and the cargo that comes with them, but also assist in a return to economic growth within the country:
“Dublin Port Company is committed to carrying out this project within our current footprint, re-developing and utilising existing port lands in the most efficient way possible, while financing the project from our own resources.”
The prospect of introducing more jobs to the local Dublin area is one that has been welcomed by many, with North inner city ward councillor Nial Ring (Ind) speaking to Dublin People saying: “The Dublin Port team is to be congratulated for the way they went about the process which involved a 12-month consultation with industry, Government, customer and community stakeholders.”
“Myself and my fellow councillors were kept informed at all stages of the plan and our concerns about local jobs, community gain and involvement of the local community in the process were all listened to and addressed.”
“As usual, Dublin Port takes its corporate social responsibility role seriously and arrangements have been made to allow the public to view the proposal in detail with public information days being organised.”
