City to create 5,000 jobs in river project

A €1bn riverside development in Limerick is expected to generate 5,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

City to create 5,000 jobs in river project

The Riverside City project will see a new cityscape built from the docklands, along the city quayside to King's Island and extending to the University of Limerick via the Park canal.

The major partnership project devised by Shannon Development was officially launched in Limerick yesterday by the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox.

"Limerick has been a riverside city for more than 1,000 years, and the implementation of the vision set out today will see Limerick become a great European riverside city for this millennium.

"The vision of this project is to create a major new development zone for Limerick city that focuses on developing the riverside and canal edges, with the objective of projecting Limerick as a high-quality environment for living, working, learning and leisure.

"With this ambitious new Riverside City project, Limerick is reclaiming its historic links with the mighty Shannon River," said Mr Cox.

Town planners concede Limerick had turned its back on the river Shannon in the 70s and 80s but say that issue is now being addressed.

"After the demise of much of the old river-based industry, new developments arose which faced away from the river.

"However, recently we have witnessed new projects like the Clarion Hotel, Steamboat Quay and Arthur's Quay Park which have the river firmly as their focus," said senior engineer at Limerick City Council, Seamus O'Sullivan.

While some of the project, which is being run under the auspices of the National Spatial Strategy, is aspirational, much of the water-based infrastructure is already in place.

Limerick's fourth river crossing is expected to be completed by 2008 at a total cost of €320m.

The Riverside City plan estimates the population of Limerick and its hinterland will grow from 214,000 to 220,000 over the next 20 years.

Included in the blueprint is an international services centre for the Docklands, an arts and performance centre at the quayside and a tenfold increase in the number of pleasure craft visiting the city within 10 years.

A further 50m investment is planned for King's Island where major rejuvenation work has already been carried out.

x

More in this section

Lunchtime News

Newsletter

Keep up with stories of the day with our lunchtime news wrap and important breaking news alerts.

Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited