€15M berth facility to facilitate cruise liners at Dunlaoghaire Harbour. .

Kingp35

Tabnabs wrote: »

All I can say is that when a cruise ship comes to DL, anchored or otherwise, there are more tourists up the town and spending in the businesses locally. RBB would want to be very careful about what he says as DL is crying out for an opportunity like this.

People Before Profit obviously stands for the comfortable sailing community and pier walkers instead of the local workers, in RBBs mind...

Do you have evidence for this? There has been plenty of research done on the economic benefits of a cruise berth with the consensus being that it's minimal. The reason being that there is usually a line of buses waiting for the tourists as they get off the ship to take them away to various tourist locations. They then get bused back to the ship and have little time to spend in the town. Also they get full board on the ship so are very unlikely to eat or drink in the restaurants or pubs in the town.

Couple this with the fact that Dun Laoghaire would be in direct competition with Dublin port and it's a complete waste of money as well as being extremely bad for the local environment and the harbour itself.

Tabnabs

My evidence is walking around the town for an hour, seeing and hearing the tourists in coffee shops, O'Briens, that gift shop on Georges St. Talking to others who work in the town, they confirmed this. The numbers were pretty noticeable.

The old chestnut of buses taking passengers away is far less relevant in recent years. With the advent of wifi aboard ship, passengers research the next port on their own volition. When the Royal Princess visited DL recently, there was a long queue on the DART platform for most of the morning as passengers made their own way into the city.

DL would be in competition with a port that currently has a strangle hold on the nations maritime infrastructure. Besides, since when is competition a bad thing?!

The environmental impact for the greater Dublin area would arguable be improved by reducing the concentration of shipping located within a city centre location. These cruise ships operate in some of the most sensitive natural parts of the world. DL would stand up to a little more traffic. Besides, where was your environmental concern when the HSS and all the previous high sulphur burning ferries traded out of DL harbour?

Bad for the harbour itself? All those kids sailing in the harbour, those 1 million plus people who walk the piers every year contribute nothing to the upkeep, maintenance and future of DL harbour.

It's a harbour, it's built to accommodate ships...

Cookie_Monster

There'll also be income to the harbour from berthing fees, crew are more likely to have shore leave in DL than further afield, provisions to be restocked, bringing people into DL to see the ships. All small stuff in comparison to passenger spending impact but will add up.

ANd the benefits to the wider county area from all the tourists cannot be ignored in favour of just looking at DL.

CatFromHue

It's not just tourists from the boats that will come to DL but other Dubliners that will come to DL to look at the boat.

I don't know the full ins and outs of this type of industry but it doesn't sound like a bad idea to me!

Fratton Fred

I'm yet to be convinced that the benefits will be as big as claimed, but I don't have a problem with it going ahead.

I do think people are missing the big picture though. A new berthing facility means a grand opening ceremony, a plaque and another council member's name immortalized forever.

SimonMaher

On the spend figures, there's a very interesting report from Bord Failte which sets out some of the sums here:

http://www.failteireland.ie/FailteIreland/media/WebsiteStructure/Documents/3_Research_Insights/1_Sectoral_SurveysReports/ReportCruiseTourismIreland.pdf?ext=.pdf

Some particularly interesting stats include the fact that about 1 in every 3 passengers take an organised tour. About 10% just stay in the general area where the cruise ship has docked. In €2010, average spend by passengers was at about €71 for passengers and €48 for crew members (crew members basically all stay local).

Some decent potential in there and even with 10% of lets say 100,000 passengers/crew staying about that's a boost that the town could really do with. As Tabnabs said above, it's a working harbour built to accomodate ships. The Examiner article also mentions nine expressions of interest in operating a Ferry in 2016 and that too would be a very positive development if it happens.

Simon

errlloyd

Dun Laoghaire is also a way more pleasant place for the ships to dock. I know you're probably asking why that matters, but put it this way. Most people on the ships have never visited Ireland. Most people on the ships may never visit Ireland again. If we have to show them one bit of Ireland, why are we showing them the crappy commercial port, the 3 Arena and nama land. DL is a beautiful town, and presents a great image of the nation.

I also generally agree that it will be a boost. Lots of passengers on cruise ships are just looking for a place to sit down, eat food, get a coffee and stuff. Others are going to the city, and some are going up to Wicklow etc. DL is just better than the port for that stuff.

Chinasea

expectationlost wrote: »

Cruise berth plan to save Dun Laoghaire port | Irish Examiner

RBB giving out about it

isn't a berth better then all those previous plans to build buildings in the harbour

RBB says no to everything. His party should really be called:

People before progress.

expectationlost

Chinasea wrote: »

RBB says no to everything. His party should really be called:

People before progress.

he mostly concerned about the dun laoghaire harbour company which he is right to be, but I get the impression that those people that resigned, did so not just becuase of governance issues but because the boat owners dont want the embiggened berth.

Gareth Keenan

Chinasea wrote: »

RBB says no to everything. His party should really be called:

People before progress.

he would have been against building the harbour in the first place.

ted1

Gareth Keenan wrote: »

he would have been against building the harbour in the first place.

And the DART