Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Dublin Port afloat

Dublin Port News
EU Programme Co-Funds Capacity Studies on Port of Dublin
#EUdublinport – According to INEA, almost €2.5 million will be co-funded from the EU TEN-T Programme for studies into the capacity development of the Port of Dublin. The studies are to improve the freight traffic connection to the main rail…
Dublin Bay Watch Gives Guarded Welcome to Dublin Port Plan
#DublinPortPlan - One of the groups which successfully campaigned against Dublin Port Company's plans to infill 52 acres of the bay, Dublin Bay Watch has welcomed new plans to expand the port on its existing land base. However, the group…
Dublin Port Company Invest €3.4m In New Trade Car Facility
#dublinport –  The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, TD, today officially opened Dublin Port Company's new trade car terminal. The new terminal is located at East Wall Road and will cater for 2,500 vehicles at a time,…
Open House Dublin: Headquarters of Dublin Port Company Open to Public Tours
#PortCentreTours – Open House Dublin is to feature the Port Centre, the headquarters of Dublin Port Company next weekend with public tours on Saturday 18 October (11.00am – 5.00pm) and Sunday 19 October (12.00pm – 5.00pm). The Port Centre designed…
Dry Dock Workers Face Job Loss over Dublin Port Plan
#DryDockJobs - The Irish Times reports that a dry dock employing some 26 workers face losing their jobs as a result of a €200m plan by Dublin Port Company to redevelop Alexandra Basin to accommodate bigger cruise ships, a planning hearing…
Dublin Port Expected to Reach Record Trade in 2014
#DublinPort - Dublin Port is expecting record trade figures in 2014 on foot of rising passenger levels and that of overall freight throughput. Third quarter results for 2014 show strong growth in the first nine months as the port saw…
Plans Unveiled for Dublin Port Expansion
#DublinPortExpansion – The Irish Times writes that Dublin Port plans for a €200m expansion and redevelopment of a large section of the port and deepening navigation channel for bigger container and cruise ships was outlined at a planning hearing yesterday.…
Dublin Port Company Launches Dublin 'Vintage Port' Rally To Tie in With Parade of Sail
#dublinport –  Ireland's oldest Garda car was back on duty for the first time in over eighty years today, to help launch the inaugural Dublin "Vintage Port" Rally which is being supported by Dublin Port Company. The 1927 Model T…
Dublin Port Fuel Pipeline to Link Dublin Airport
#FuelPipeline – The Irish Times reports that an aviation fuel pipeline between Dublin port and Dublin airport is to be lodged with a planning application to City and Fingal councils in the coming weeks. The project envisages replacing existing road…
Dublin Port Invite Submissions from Companies to Develop Cruise Business
#CruiseDublin – The Dublin Port Company has invited submissions from companies interested in developing the cruiseship business at the nation's largest port. The port which has the biggest cruise business on the island of Ireland and in attracting many major…
Ringsend Remembers First Irishman To Die In Great War
#DublinPort - A plaque commemorating the first Irishman to die in the First World War has been unveiled in his home neighbourhood of Ringsend in Dublin's south Docklands, where many of his descendants still live. As The Irish Times reports,…
An Ocean Apart But United as Princess Cruises Fleetmates Make Joint Visit
#PrincessCallers -Dublin Port's main cruise berths that line along the broad width of Ocean Pier are both occupied by a pair of Princess Cruises ships that docked at dawn today, writes Jehan Ashmore. Ruby Princess, a 'Grand' class ship of…
Dublin Port Company 2013 Annual Report Available Online
#DublinPort - Dublin Port Company have released the 2013 Annual Report 'online'. Downloadable copies in PDF format (in both Irish and English) as well as an HTML version are now available through this LINK. In addition previous Annual Reports dating…
Lord Mayor's Investiture as New Dublin Port Admiral
#dublinport – The recently elected Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Christy Burke, has received the Admiral's Hat from Dublin Port Company Chairperson, Lucy McCaffrey, at a ceremony to mark the commencement of his role as the Honorary Admiral of Dublin…
Dublin Port’s Heritage to Feature in New ‘Building Ireland’ TV Series
#OnTheTV – Building Ireland, the first of a new television series starts tonight on RTE 1 (7pm) which explores and explains how Ireland's great building and engineering achievements came to be, and their impact on the development of our towns…
Dublin Port Company Pays €8m Dividend to the State
#dublinport – Dublin Port Company has paid a dividend of €8 million to the State based on its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2013. The payment is in line with the company's commitment to making a dividend…

About Dublin Port 

Dublin Port is Ireland’s largest and busiest port with approximately 17,000 vessel movements per year. As well as being the country’s largest port, Dublin Port has the highest rate of growth and, in the seven years to 2019, total cargo volumes grew by 36.1%.

The vision of Dublin Port Company is to have the required capacity to service the needs of its customers and the wider economy safely, efficiently and sustainably. Dublin Port will integrate with the City by enhancing the natural and built environments. The Port is being developed in line with Masterplan 2040.

Dublin Port Company is currently investing about €277 million on its Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR), which is due to be complete by 2021. The redevelopment will improve the port's capacity for large ships by deepening and lengthening 3km of its 7km of berths. The ABR is part of a €1bn capital programme up to 2028, which will also include initial work on the Dublin Port’s MP2 Project - a major capital development project proposal for works within the existing port lands in the northeastern part of the port.

Dublin Port has also recently secured planning approval for the development of the next phase of its inland port near Dublin Airport. The latest stage of the inland port will include a site with the capacity to store more than 2,000 shipping containers and infrastructures such as an ESB substation, an office building and gantry crane.

Dublin Port Company recently submitted a planning application for a €320 million project that aims to provide significant additional capacity at the facility within the port in order to cope with increases in trade up to 2040. The scheme will see a new roll-on/roll-off jetty built to handle ferries of up to 240 metres in length, as well as the redevelopment of an oil berth into a deep-water container berth.

Dublin Port FAQ

Dublin was little more than a monastic settlement until the Norse invasion in the 8th and 9th centuries when they selected the Liffey Estuary as their point of entry to the country as it provided relatively easy access to the central plains of Ireland. Trading with England and Europe followed which required port facilities, so the development of Dublin Port is inextricably linked to the development of Dublin City, so it is fair to say the origins of the Port go back over one thousand years. As a result, the modern organisation Dublin Port has a long and remarkable history, dating back over 300 years from 1707.

The original Port of Dublin was situated upriver, a few miles from its current location near the modern Civic Offices at Wood Quay and close to Christchurch Cathedral. The Port remained close to that area until the new Custom House opened in the 1790s. In medieval times Dublin shipped cattle hides to Britain and the continent, and the returning ships carried wine, pottery and other goods.

510 acres. The modern Dublin Port is located either side of the River Liffey, out to its mouth. On the north side of the river, the central part (205 hectares or 510 acres) of the Port lies at the end of East Wall and North Wall, from Alexandra Quay.

Dublin Port Company is a State-owned commercial company responsible for operating and developing Dublin Port.

Dublin Port Company is a self-financing, and profitable private limited company wholly-owned by the State, whose business is to manage Dublin Port, Ireland's premier Port. Established as a corporate entity in 1997, Dublin Port Company is responsible for the management, control, operation and development of the Port.

Captain William Bligh (of Mutiny of the Bounty fame) was a visitor to Dublin in 1800, and his visit to the capital had a lasting effect on the Port. Bligh's study of the currents in Dublin Bay provided the basis for the construction of the North Wall. This undertaking led to the growth of Bull Island to its present size.

Yes. Dublin Port is the largest freight and passenger port in Ireland. It handles almost 50% of all trade in the Republic of Ireland.

All cargo handling activities being carried out by private sector companies operating in intensely competitive markets within the Port. Dublin Port Company provides world-class facilities, services, accommodation and lands in the harbour for ships, goods and passengers.

Eamonn O'Reilly is the Dublin Port Chief Executive.

Capt. Michael McKenna is the Dublin Port Harbour Master

In 2019, 1,949,229 people came through the Port.

In 2019, there were 158 cruise liner visits.

In 2019, 9.4 million gross tonnes of exports were handled by Dublin Port.

In 2019, there were 7,898 ship arrivals.

In 2019, there was a gross tonnage of 38.1 million.

In 2019, there were 559,506 tourist vehicles.

There were 98,897 lorries in 2019

Boats can navigate the River Liffey into Dublin by using the navigational guidelines. Find the guidelines on this page here.

VHF channel 12. Commercial vessels using Dublin Port or Dun Laoghaire Port typically have a qualified pilot or certified master with proven local knowledge on board. They "listen out" on VHF channel 12 when in Dublin Port's jurisdiction.

A Dublin Bay webcam showing the south of the Bay at Dun Laoghaire and a distant view of Dublin Port Shipping is here
Dublin Port is creating a distributed museum on its lands in Dublin City.
 A Liffey Tolka Project cycle and pedestrian way is the key to link the elements of this distributed museum together.  The distributed museum starts at the Diving Bell and, over the course of 6.3km, will give Dubliners a real sense of the City, the Port and the Bay.  For visitors, it will be a unique eye-opening stroll and vista through and alongside one of Europe’s busiest ports:  Diving Bell along Sir John Rogerson’s Quay over the Samuel Beckett Bridge, past the Scherzer Bridge and down the North Wall Quay campshire to Berth 18 - 1.2 km.   Liffey Tolka Project - Tree-lined pedestrian and cycle route between the River Liffey and the Tolka Estuary - 1.4 km with a 300-metre spur along Alexandra Road to The Pumphouse (to be completed by Q1 2021) and another 200 metres to The Flour Mill.   Tolka Estuary Greenway - Construction of Phase 1 (1.9 km) starts in December 2020 and will be completed by Spring 2022.  Phase 2 (1.3 km) will be delivered within the following five years.  The Pumphouse is a heritage zone being created as part of the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project.  The first phase of 1.6 acres will be completed in early 2021 and will include historical port equipment and buildings and a large open space for exhibitions and performances.  It will be expanded in a subsequent phase to incorporate the Victorian Graving Dock No. 1 which will be excavated and revealed. 
 The largest component of the distributed museum will be The Flour Mill.  This involves the redevelopment of the former Odlums Flour Mill on Alexandra Road based on a masterplan completed by Grafton Architects to provide a mix of port operational uses, a National Maritime Archive, two 300 seat performance venues, working and studio spaces for artists and exhibition spaces.   The Flour Mill will be developed in stages over the remaining twenty years of Masterplan 2040 alongside major port infrastructure projects.

Source: Dublin Port Company ©Afloat 2020.