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A FEW WEEKS ago, a cruise ship twice the length of Croke Park became the first major liner to call Dublin Port home.
Two years after its arrival was first mooted, the gargantuan Celebrity Cruises Eclipse docked in the capital, from where it will take passengers on tours of the ‘Irish isles’, Iceland and the Norwegian fjords between now and June.
Using temporary facilities, it will ferry thousands of holidaymakers on five separate tours that start and finish in Dublin, unlike the hundreds of stopovers that merely visit the capital en-route to another destination.
It’s a major coup for Dublin Port, which stated in a recent draft of its 2040 master plan that the development of so-called ‘turnaround business’ – where cruise companies start and finish tours in a city – is “far more valuable to the economy” than port-of-call operations.
Turnaround passengers tend to take a short break in the home port city either before or after the embark on a cruise.
Cruise business in Ireland’s capital has already grown significantly in recent years. Last year, the port handled 127 ships and 210,000 visitors, up from 109 cruise calls in 2016 and 93 the year before.
While Dublin Port Company expects further growth this year – projecting 150 cruise calls - its chief executive, Eamonn O’Reilly, tells Fora that the facility is “approaching a limit of what’s going to be possible” with its current infrastructure.
For that reason, the semi-state sought and obtained planning permission in 2015 for the ‘Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project’ to deepen the port’s navigation channel and facilitate bigger ships.
Two separate berth facilities – spaces to anchor a ship – will become available: one near Tom Clarke Bridge, still commonly known as the East-Link Bridge, and one in Alexandra Basin. These will be used by both cargo and cruise ships.
“Developing cruise turnaround business will be (dependent on) the completion of the new berths. At some stage after that there might well be a need for a cruise terminal,” O’Reilly says.
Dublin Port’s main focus is on its cargo business, which is delivering high growth and accounts for the lion’s share of its revenue: of the €80 million the facility takes in, mainly in port dues and rent, only around €2 million comes from the cruise industry.
Temporary facilities similar to the ones used by Celebrity Cruises would suffice when it comes to facilitating passenger check-in and moving baggage onto the ship during the peak travel season.
“This is very much the way Copenhagen grew its cruise business,” he says.
Although it’s unlikely Dublin will ever reach the same heights as Denmark’s capital – which expects to handle 875,000 cruise passengers this year – O’Reilly predicts that the Irish port could take as many as 500,000 passengers once the Alexandra Basin project is completed, with two in five coming from turnaround business.
‘Financing conundrum’
However, Dublin Port Company – which has already started works on the project – has stated that it will need to secure additional investment to complete the Alexandra Basin redevelopment and associated works by 2022.
O’Reilly declined to disclose how much the revamp will ultimately cost – or how much Dublin Port Company will contribute – but it has been previously reported that the bill will run to €230 million.
The port is looking at a number of options to sort out its “financing conundrum”, including the possibility of asking state agency Fáilte Ireland to make a “significant contribution” to works.
“We’re entering a period now with the Project Ireland 2040 and the 10-year national development plan. We’re looking at options within that,” O’Reilly adds.
As well as looking at Copenhagen’s cruise business, Dublin Port Company is also taking inspiration from Vancouver’s Canada Place.
O’Reilly – who was speaking to Fora from the city – said it’s a “role model” for the Irish capital because “it’s a seasonal business”. Like Vancouver, the majority of Dublin’s cruise calls occur during the peak travel season in the summer months.
It’s noteworthy Canada Place is also well-integrated with the city. As well as growing trade, Dublin Port Company has been tasked with “reintegrating” the port into the capital’s “conscience”.
“People have forgotten they have a port … Cruise ships, by their sheer presence, would contribute to (changing) that.”
In addition to building facilities for the ships themselves, there’s a need for several large hotel projects to cater for turnaround passengers who would stay in the city either before or after they take a cruise out of Dublin.
When asked whether there’s sufficient land for such developments, O’Reilly identified two pockets of land that would be suitable for hotels with up to 600 bedrooms.
“I would see an opportunity for something to be built on port lands, just on the other side of East Wall Road,” he says.
He notes that Dublin City Council is seeking planning approval for the Poolbeg Strategic Development Zone housing scheme.
“Within that, there’s a strip of port land which is zoned for some sort of commercial development … There’s possibility for a second hotel development in that area,” O’Reilly says, adding that the port company would be willing to partner with developers on such a project.
In terms of what Dublin can offer travellers that other cruise destinations can’t, O’Reilly says the main attraction is that fact that it’s “an area that’s very stable politically”.
“The cruise business in North Africa wiped out a couple of years ago … and yet there are more and more cruise ships coming out of yards. The cruise industry is a bit like Ryanair: by deploying the asset, they create the market.
“If you put that with the facilities we’re developing, with air connectivity that Dublin has, with the ease of movement through Dublin Port Tunnel, and the attractiveness of the city – I can’t see any big thing that’s going to prevent us growing the business.”
Outbound travel
Industry experts say turnaround cruises would also benefit the outbound travel market.
Clare Dunne – who owns the Travel Broker agency and sits on the Irish Travel Agents Association board – says cruises that start and finish in Dublin are particularly attractive for over-50s travellers and families.
“Cruising is the fastest, strongest growth area we have at the moment. We have more and more new-to-cruise people every day,” she says, adding that cruise holidays account for about 70% of the leisure side of her business.
“A lot of over-50s are reluctant to fly or don’t like flying and they’re always asking us if they can cruise out of Dublin. Now they can.
“For our customers who are based in Ireland, they would be very interested in cruising from here. They can get in their car or grab a cab and walk onto the ship.”
As well as the ease of access, Irish travellers would be attracted to the more generous baggage allowances that cruises offer, Dunne says.
“People going on cruises generally don’t travel all that lightly. They want their gear. Whether there are formal nights or not, people like to dress up a little bit on their cruise. They don’t generally travel with hand baggage.”
Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie
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The state of all them candidates. No competition to Michael D
@Ciarān: Mickey D is the real deal. Couldn’t think of anyone better.
@Ciarān: if president Higgins was in that group you could equally say the state of him ,I can’t say I know of anything outstanding that he’s done ,he praised some men at a funeral that I would have had little respect for in the recent past
@FlopFlipU: What more would you have asked him to do? He is an intelligent, eloquent speaker who represents us well abroad and at home and is always visibly proud to do so.
@Ciarān: Michael D isn’t a patch on McAleese, and is too old for another 7 year term. Joan Freeman will have my vote assuming her candidacy isn’t blocked. Fantastic woman, and without wishing to be sexist I think the women elected to that office have far outperformed any of the men that went before them (although gender is not why I’ll vote for Freeman, but worthy of note all the same)
@Ciarān: I thought the agenda of the last election was to eliminate Labour, let’s complete the job and give higgins the boot too.
@B-Tech Roadman: What per cent of the population actually voted for his party in the last election?
@FlopFlipU: He established TG4 for one thing, and struck the perfect balance in marking the 1916 centenary.
@Trevor Hayden: eh yeah right whatever
@Ciarān: He is a hypocrite and a champagne socialist.
Duffy. A great defender of bloodsports and hunts. No thanks
@Good Early: No joe duffy. ring him at 2 everyday.
@Sean Conway: tbh I’m in shock Duffy isn’t running. Bet he’d run under FG. If mims o Callaghan had ran ,wouldn’t she effectively have been a FF candidate ?
So Joan couldn’t answer the question in Irish. Why doesn’t it mention whether the other two could?
@Joe Lennon:
Maybe no one cared? The fact she hasn’t in the past wasted her time and energy on a useless language is the first good thing I have heard about her.
@Joe Lennon: No idea. Maybe she was the only person asked a question in Irish? They only gave Feeney a token mention, suggesting our impartial press have wrote him off already.
@P.J. Nolan: the first good thing you’ve heard about her? You know she started Pieta House right? Or were you just being facetious?
@ObsidianShine:
I was well aware of Pieta house, I’ve been there as a visitor! I should have said it was the first good thing since the start of this campaign.
@ObsidianShine: and then put god in charge of the finances. That’s a no from me
@P.J. Nolan: Gligín
Democracy means we have a contest. The issue of cost of an election should not come into it. There is no price for Democracy.
Let the Candidates declare themselves, let’s hear the debate and let’s vote. Long live the Republic.
@Gavin O’Brien: ‘Democracy means we have a contest.’ Are you sure you aren’t confusing democracy with a game show, the needs of the citizens with the needs of TV viewers and the media who profit from endless ‘polls’? We have democratically elected a man who does the job well. Even these ‘candidates’ admit this. Which begs the question: if this is the case, why are they running?
@alan: You obviously have not a clue what a democracy is or how it works if you think we have a man democratically elected. He stated he would take the job for seven years not fourteen.
Fourteen years is too long a time for one of the most powerful positions in the state in my opinion. We need to have an election to hold Michael D accountable for his actions during his term as president whether you agree with them or not you get to chose at the ballot.
@brian boru: ‘to hold Michael D accountable for his actions during his term as President’. What actions would they be?
@sean o’dhubhghaill: that’s up to everyone to find out and make a decision on. Just because some people just see the veneer and the position is powerless, doesn’t mean others don’t think he may not be the best candidate for the job of president.
@brian boru: You do not know what the job is if you think it is so powerful. There are powers but they are clearly defined and limited with various backstops.
@brian boru: Okay, you think a fourteen year term limit is too long. What’s that got to do with having an election for the role? Completely different topic that we can and will vote on if we have to. That’s like saying that you buy Smarties to send a message. No one knows what your message is, and that’s not even why we’re here in the first place.
Joan Freeman best of this bunch , by a long shot , she’s far more in touch with the what’s going in peoples lives on than others , she sees it every day .
@Margaret: yet I couldn’t possibly vote for someone who admittedly deprived citizens of equal rights.
@sequoia: Who did that as the President does not make the laws they sign off on them if they do not break the constitution. Learn about the actual powers of the job before you blame somebody for something that was not their fault
@Gary Kearney: she voted no in the 8th amendment referendum is what i think sequoia is referring to. it is also the reason that i wouldn’t vote for her.
…..President Freeman, great name for a free Republic.
@Brian McDonnell: Freeperson surely
I thought the object of the last election was to eliminate Labour, let’s give higgins the boot too.
His state funeral will cost us a fortune, lets not add to the expense.
@Trevor Hayden: How will it “add to the expense” to pay the same amount to a different person for the sake of it? What difference would it make to the main political parties? Have you noticed taxes being reduced due to savings made, or something?
Great. We’re seriously being asked to consider the likes of Duffy, who doesn’t understand the Presidency and really only wants this on his CV? Or Freeman, an uber-catholic President? Would she refuse to sign the legislation to give effect to the wishes of the people in the referendum? How does she feel about the proposed blasphemy changes? Michael D will brush the likes of them aside, and in the process they’ll have their secrets outed and reputations tattered, just like what happened Sean Gallagher.
I agree, there’s not much to offer voters. Also, internationally, who on earth cares if Duffy is a good pal of Sean Gallagher’s? He’s running for President, not trying to get into a nightclub, for Pete’s sake.
Can anyone nominate themselves , my god a sorry bunch . Spare us from iona . keep going michael d…
Has Michael d achieved anything of note personally outside of the culture of our disgraceful gombeen politics, like Freeman and Duffy? I can’t think of anything!
Duffy is clearly a champion of the patriarchy – it’s easy to imagine him beating his chest and roaring like Tarzan in celebration of his own mediocrity. Freeman is a queen of the matriarchy and if elected will suffocate the country with touchy feely mammy meetings and whinging. Higgins is wise, caring, and eloquent. His dogs would make better presidents that the other two.
@Martello Mulligan:
What do u mean that we have no other options ? Michael D couldn’t give a fiddlers about what u mentioned, he totally backed millions of state ( as in our taxes) money being poured into a vanity project in Galway. Also where did he get his accent ? Limerick, North Cork or Galway ? Hardly indigenous to any of those regions. I remain to be convinced that he’s the best on offer.
In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king.
The only way any of those massive egos is above Michael D is in height. How they can carry their self importance has me baffled. No worries there Michael D. Slainte.
What a waste of money. Michael D will destroy them on every level there is
@Tommy C: Have people forgotten which party mickey is a member of. Yes liebour who along with ffg screwed the country up. He has been paid 200,000 a year for the last 7 years and now wants another 7. He is a traitor to everything the old labour party stood for.
@Derek Poutch: He was old Labour real Labour and has never changed.
The promises are all out already for these candidate, do they not realise its just a figurehead position.
Powerless county councils are enjoying a few weeks of presidential summer glory. Then it’s back to waste collection, street lights and the administration of grants for construction and repair of footpaths.
Is Bono on the list of candidates
as he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for ?
Well this is gonna be a right sh*t show from start to finish.
Sad to not see Bosco running this year
Pieta House is one of finest initiatives in the country, but I think we need people involved in mental health so positively to stay in that field as there are few enough batting for it.
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