Submissions are now being sought by Dun Laoghaire Harbour Authority for the design and planning of a 500 berth pontoon structure in the "middle harbour"of the south Dublin ferry port. The notice seeking tenders is just the first step, the authority says. Recreational development is part of its 1992 plan the core of which is the £22 million project to accommodate Stena Line's new high speed ferry on the Dun Laoghaire Holyhead route. The plan entails development of leisure facilities in the Old Harbour/ Coal Harbour area and the West pier. A key element will be construction of a breakwater with promenade protect the project from the sort of east north east gales that can turn a pond into a bubbling cauldron. A planning application is expected to be lodged before the end of the year, following public consultation and there will be an environmental impact statement. If approved, and if funded by the EU, work on a projected £10 million project may begin at the end of the next sailing season.
When and if built, it will be the largest public marina in the State. "State" is the operative word. Memories of the row over a proposed private project in the public harbour in 1989 are still fresh in the borough. Much of that focused on lack of consultation, and the impact on public access particularly for small boat owners who did not belong to any of the four yacht clubs. It has often been said that they represent the four biggest obstacles to "sailing for all" in south Dublin, given the elitist, self interested approach which some of them have demonstrated in the past.
Some might question the marina's viability, given the "white elephants" which can be found on parts of the British coastline. Much will depend on the infrastructure, sailing interests point out. Lack of adequate research into the leisure sector has already cost on the Irish coast wide Kilrush on the Shannon estuary. However, modest public ventures like those in Dingle, Co Kerry, and now Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford, have attracted widespread support. But the biggest impact will be onshore. Property owners. in the waterfront area will undoubtedly benefit. statistics from other marina projects have borne this out. Harbour users and residents can afford to be a little more apprehensive. Dublin has a traffic problem, and a recent report by the Chartered Institute of Transport in Ireland (CITI) described the two ports of Dublin and Dun Laoghaire as "saturated".
The CITI report pointed out that current traffic statistics for the area already put strip the forecasts. The Dublin Transportation Initiative had forecast that Dublin port's traffic would reach 9.5 million tonnes in 2011. It reached 11.8 million tonnes just last year. In Dun Laoghaire, Stena Line's decision to reduce ferry freight traffic by relocating the bulk of this to Dublin port will not relieve congestion, the CITI says. An Taisce's Dun Laoghaire branch is well justified in seeking clarification on traffic, among other issues, from the harbour authority. It does not necessarily want to scapegoat the marina, given the other commercial developments proceeding apace such as the high rise development on part of the town's Pavilion Gardens, which it opposes. However, a traffic management plan for the suburb still awaits publication three years after its commissioning by the local authority. If not addressed, Ireland's only entirely 19th century town has a bleak bumper to bumper future ahead.