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Eamonn O’Reilly, Chief Executive Dublin Port Company, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Leo Varadkar and Owen P Keegan, Dublin City Manager, Dublin City Council Conor McCabe Photography

Port company proposes giving Bull Island land to council

Members of the public are being asked to give their say on the proposal.

THE DUBLIN PORT Company has announced that it is proposing to transfer a “significant” portion of Bull Island to Dublin City Council.

It said today that it will also partner with Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland in a feasibility study for a new interpretative centre and international visitor experience at the Bull Island biosphere.

The company said it will contribute towards the development of a master plan for Bull Island following the conclusion of the study.

The land measures 10.5 hectares and is close to the port and adjacent to the Royal Dublin Golf Club, to the western side of the island beside the North Bull Wall.

Currently, this land is used for recreational purposes, including access to Dollymount Strand.

The port company will also allocate up to €1.2 million towards the cost of the study, master plan and new services or facilities identified for Bull Island.

Members of the public are being asked to give their say on the plans for the area.

The company said that the proposal “will provide a legacy that enriches Bull Island as a precious natural resource”.

The proposal will be included as a ‘community gain element’ to Dublin Port Company’s planning application for new and deeper berths in the Alexandra Basin and on the river towards the east of Dublin Port.

Master plan

This is the first significant project for development under the company’s master plan, which provides the framework for the future development of Dublin Port to 2040.

It was announced in February 2012 that under the master plan, Dublin Port Company will invest €110 million over the next five years as part of the plan, with a total of 600 million to be spent on the port between now and 2040.

image

A view from North Bull Wall nature reserve. Pic: Infomatique/Flickr

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar commended Dublin Port for the initiative and for its ongoing contribution to the city.

He said: “Dublin Port’s gift to the people of Dublin will be welcomed by all and remembered for generations.”

Eamonn O’Reilly, Chief Executive of Dublin Port Company, said that its major master plan project will deliver more than three kilometres of new deeper berths for passenger, freight and cruise ships.

“Dublin is Ireland’s cruise capital with more than 100 cruise ships calling this year,” he noted. “The project will allow the largest cruise ships to berth right up at East Link Bridge.”

Owen P Keegan, Dublin City Managerat Dublin City Council, said that a feasibility study is being carried out to consider the potential for redeveloping the visitor centre on the island as a flagship project for natural heritage interpretation.

“This project and the on-going conservation of wildlife on the island will be much strengthened by this new partnership with Dublin Port Company,” he added.

People are being asked to share their views on the proposal for Bull Island by Friday, 18 October 2013.

You can find out more about submissions at www.dublinportabr.ie, and interested parties are invited to make their submissions to abr@dublinport.ie or to Charlie Murphy, Dublin Port Company, Alexandra Road, Dublin 1.

Read: Dublin Port to welcome cruise ships as part of ‘masterplan’>

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15 Comments
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    Mute Tony Slap
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:37 AM

    Miserable comments from miserable people. Even when you get something for nothing you still moan. You are only happy when you are unhappy. Perhaps a mass underwater protest without breathing apparatuses might be in order.

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    Mute Rob O Reilly
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    Sep 18th 2013, 1:07 PM

    Do you realise that Dublin Port is a state company and the shareholder is the minister for transport ? This wasnt a gift to the state, we already own it ! they gave us something we own and we celebrate. Wow people are stupid.

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    Mute Fergal Reid
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    Sep 18th 2013, 4:55 PM

    Same old griping and grousing. Sometimes you can understand why Cromwell wanted to send us all west of the Shannon.

    Re: Bull Island, replacing the causeway with a bridge would do wonders for the flow of water and would prevent much of the bird sanctuary from silting up beyond rescue.

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    Mute Bernard Cantillon
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    Sep 18th 2013, 10:00 PM

    But it will now be in the hands of DCC, which means it will be owned by the people of Dublin

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    Mute Dom AcePlazo
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:34 AM

    Great idea.

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    Mute Mick Collins
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:19 AM

    A gift to the people of Dublin my arse. Its a money saving venture by Dublin Port thus offloading the cost of upkeep to Dublin City Council and ultimately the taxpayer.

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    Mute Barry
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:27 AM

    mick, its people like yourself that just like to shit on anything good, sure the same could be said for any gift to any country or city

    Kilkenny Castle was given to the city for a very small fee of 50 punts (token gesture really).
    But by your logic you can bitch and moan and say its a burden due to the costs that had to go into renovating the castle,

    France gave the statue of liberty to the USA as a gift, but sure you can bitch and moan the American’s have to pay to look after it.

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    Mute Mick Collins
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:29 AM

    Yawn !

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    Mute Bilbo Baggins
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:49 AM

    Sure if that was their outlook why wouldn’t they sell it to someone, or leave it as it is , they’re not exactly under any obligation to ‘upkeep’ it. At least if DCC have it there is a possibility of it being of use to the people of and visiting Dublin.

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    Mute Morticia
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:21 AM

    Any alterations to the port area could cause Bull Island disintegrate, it is ‘artificial’ as it formed as recently as 1820 -1860. On the other hand it could grow massively ,interesting times ahead for the Bay

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    Mute Darren Callaghan
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:52 AM

    It says it all in the article for goodness sake the key words being “community gain element” of their application for deeper berths for the cruise ships ,we don’t need all the bull all we need as a city of intelligent people who want the best for our city is a proper environmental study done to make sure dredging and construction work won’t do any lasting damage to environment and animal life in Dublin Bay and to make sure that ‘consultant’ fees and costs are within a realistic budget. My bet would be that if Dublin City Council had minimum role to play and Dublin Port Company took the lead on it things would go pretty smoothly

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    Mute Brian Donovan
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:24 AM

    Sounds like a bribe to me

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    Mute Paul Brophy
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:15 AM

    Hahaha genuine smiles in that photo.

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    Mute Declan Carr
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    Sep 18th 2013, 11:40 AM

    sounds like its going to be turned into a dump.

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    Mute Ireland Uncensored
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    Sep 18th 2013, 9:33 PM

    As lon as its still ok to go dogging or sell drugs there then i dont care who owns it

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