[Article] Port in a storm over future needs

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Port in a storm over future needs
02/11/03 00:00
By Niamh Connolly

Dublin Port will reach full capacity by 2007, raising critical issues about future access, according to the chief executive of Dublin Port Company.

The debate about the port's planned expansion into 21 hectares of Dublin Bay has moved beyond a local issue of visual impact to one of national competitiveness, Enda Connellan told The Sunday Business Post.

"There is a direct relationship between capacity and competitiveness. We're relying on trade for growth in gross domestic product. We must be competitive at moving goods abroad. The port is a small but important link in that chain," he said.

Dublin handles just under half of the total trade through Irish ports. Up to 99 per cent of goods by volume are moved by sea, raising questions about future cost efficiencies in the import/export business.

"The ports have kept feeding the Celtic tiger and we've produced a lot of extra facilities," said Connellan. "Our interest is in increasing the efficiencies of the port. Since 1997, we've reduced prices by 35 per cent in unitised [containerised] load-on, load-off and roll-on, roll-off business due to increased volumes and reduced costs."

The company has quit the warehousing, cranage and stevedoring industry and there are now seven crane firms operating at the port.

There is also competition in the field of cargo, storage and pilotage services. But privatisation "is not on my radar", said Connellan. "We've moved with the times.There's now an EU directive on access to port services on the way and we believe we have achieved all that is required in that directive.

"Not every port might be in the same situation but Dublin Port is," he said. Dublin Port is on 270 hectares of land - less than half the sizeof Belfast Port's land base, though Dublin handles between 20 and 30 per cent more trade than Belfast. Dublin has also handled 60 cruise liners this year, bringing tourists and money into the local economy.

Connellan views road access to the port as a more pressing issue than the height of the tunnel. Although some ferry companies have invested heavily in upgrading their fleets to accommodate taller trucks. Dublin Port Company has claimed compensation of €30 million from Dublin Port Tunnel for the use of 40 acres of its land.

Connellan defends the claim on grounds that the company has a clear commercial mandate, and use of the tunnel is "not solely for Dublin Port Company, but for the wider benefit of the city".

A high level review of Irish ports, commissioned by marine minister Dermot Ahern, has called for submissions. C on nel lan has al re ady sparked controversy by questioning the case for a regulator. He believes competition and price reductions have been achieved without a regulator.

"There is a need for a debate on the reasoning behind the regulator. The Competition Authority did not suggest a regulator. It suggested an evaluation of competition among and within the ports," said Connellan.

In March 2002 the company submitted an environmental impact survey with an application for a foreshore licence to extend eastwards, by filling in 21 hectares of Dublin Bay. Over a year and a half later, the company hopes to move to the next stage, involving a 28- day consultation process with the local community.

Modifications aimed at reducing the visual impact of the development have been drawn up by Wilson Architecture, following objections from Clontarf residents and Dublin Bay Watch. The plan involves heavy planting on precast concrete panels on the foreshore bank, camouflaging the development with semi-transparent screens and coating storage tanks to blur the line between the water's edge and the foreshore when viewed from Clontarf.

The chairman of Dublin Bay Watch, Gerry Breen, said he welcomed the screening of the port, "but it's 30 years overdue". Breen said the company had not proved it needed an extension. "They said they needed it 30 years ago, and they have coped," he said.

He said the application for an extension to increase berthage and land in the port had "nothing to do with the core operations of the port, it is solely to do with real estate". The strategy was directly linked to the future privatisation of the port, he said.