Dublin Port's plan to infill a further 50 acres of Dublin Bay may no longer be necessary if a plan by the Drogheda Port Company to develop a new deepwater port at Bremore, just north of Balbriggan, gets off the ground.
The port company has acquired an option on 150 acres of land for the first phase of the proposed new port, which would be capable of handling five million tonnes of freight a year in its initial phase. Further expansion could boost this to 20 million tonnes.
A report by consultants John Mangan and Associates, commissioned by Drogheda Port, noted that the National Spatial Strategy had identified the need to divert traffic out of Dublin Port to other ports, particularly on the east and south coasts.
They said the proposed port at Bremore "has significant traffic potential which can be quite readily realised", especially given its location close to the M1 motorway and the Dublin-Belfast railway line. The M50 and Dublin airport were also "within easy reach".
No price tag has been put on the scheme, for which Drogheda Port has yet to lodge a planning application. But it closely mirrors a proposal put forward in 1989 by consultants ESB International to relocate the cargo component of Dublin Port to a new port at Loughshinny.
