DÚN Laoghaire Harbour Company has welcomed An Bord Pleanála’s decision to grant permission for a controversial new cruise berth.
The development of the facility will allow the harbour to accommodate up to 80 per cent of cruise ships that currently visit Dublin.
The new berth will be able to facilitiate cruise ships up to 250m in length.
Despite considerable local opposition to the plan, Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company believes it will provide many economic benefits to the town, its hinterland, Dublin and the whole country.
In a statement, it said at least 30 per cent of the additional expenditure and resultant employment that the berth will generate is estimated to accrue to the Dún Laoghaire area.
It is expected that the new berth will attract around 50 cruise calls a year between May and September – an average of two a week – each with approximately 2,000 visitors who will disembark in Dún Laoghaire.
The harbour company estimates that money generated from these visitors will, over a season, amount to €10m.
Eithne Scott Lennon, chairperson of DLHC, welcomed the planning board’s decision.
“We are very pleased at the decision of An Bord Pleanála,” she said. “The development of cruise tourism in Dún Laoghaire and its hinterland is recognised in the County Development Plan, the Harbour Masterplan and the National Ports Policy, which envisages the future of the harbour in terms of marine tourism, marine leisure, cultural amenity and urban redevelopment.”
High-profile opponents of the cruise berth plan include Richard Boyd Barrett TD, Senator Victor Boyhan and folk singer Christy Moore, who lives in the area.