€18m Irish Fertiliser Industries revamp hit with delay

An €18m plan to redevelop the former Irish Fertiliser Industries (IFI) plant at Marino Point near Cobh, Co Cork, faces a delay after the consortium intending to buy the site withdrew its notification to the State’s mergers watchdog.

Last night a spokesperson for the Port of Cork, which is leading the consortium, confirmed its notification to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) had been withdrawn.

“We will be reflecting on it over the next few days,” said the spokeswoman. She then declined to comment any further.

Yesterday, the Irish Examiner reported that the Port of Cork authority will be asked by county councillors to provide detailed plans of its proposals to acquire and develop the former IFI site.

This newspaper recently revealed that the port authority had been involved in a consortium which was expected to acquire the 114-acre site from the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) for around €8m and to spend a further €10m developing it so it could handle oil, agri-feed, and fertiliser shipping traffic and use the facility’s rail link for biomass freight.

The port company and its partners, which include publicly quoted OriginEnterprises, withdrew their notification of the deal to the CCPC yesterday.

Any plan for the IFI site will have to be notified to the commission again before proceeding.