€4.3m investment announced for Port of Cork as upgrade plans progress

The Port of Cork is set for a €4.3m upgrade, with improvements planned for berths, piers, and the cruise terminal

The construction of a second container berth at Ringaskiddy East is aimed at providing capacity to support offshore renewable energy, as the new berth will have the loading capacity to accommodate the assembly of offshore energy components. Picture: David Creedon

The Port of Cork is set to undertake a €4.3m upgrade and maintenance programme after its administrators sought bids for works at multiple locations, including the port’s cruise liner terminal.

The Port of Cork Company has sought bids to carry out the fourth phase of its upgrade, incorporating works at the Tivoli facility’s bulk and container berths, the Ringaskiddy facility’s jetty and deep water berth, and the cruise line terminal at Cobh. The contract length is 18 months.

The works will see damaged fenders removed at a number of locations across the port. Defective concrete will be removed from the cruise liner terminal, while damaged staircases at Currabinny and Monkstown piers will be replaced. 

The upgrade will also see works on road lighting, electrics, traffic signs and pavements around the port.

It is the latest in a series of funding announcements, upgrade commitments, and planning applications involving the port and comes two weeks after seeking planning permission for a major redevelopment of  facilities at Ringaskiddy, including a new container terminal and multipurpose berth.

The construction of a second container berth at Ringaskiddy East is aimed at providing capacity to support offshore renewable energy, as the new berth will have the loading capacity to accommodate the assembly of offshore energy components.

The Port of Cork Masterplan 2050 set out an ambition is to achieve “a 51% reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to set ourselves on a path to reach net zero emissions by 2050”.

The new planning application is viewed as key to the future growth and competitiveness of the port, with the formal planning statement noting “the extension is a critical component of a broader strategy to accommodate the shift of port facilities from Cork city centre to the lower harbour, driven by increasing vessel sizes and the projected growth in both population and commercial activities”.

Last October, then minister for public expenditure Paschal Donohoe announced funding in Budget 2025 of €99m towards the port’s redevelopment allocated via the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, the State’s sovereign development fund.

That funding is also primarily geared towards driving growth in Ireland’s offshore renewables sector — chiefly the development of offshore wind energy platforms.

The fund’s announcement served to close a monetary gap which had threatened the port’s ability to expand its deepwater facilities at Ringaskiddy.

Last July, as the Port of Cork was lobbying for funding for the ambitious project, it confirmed it had secured a €38.4m EU grant from the bloc's Connecting Europe Facility, which had closed the funding gap to an extent but still left a significant shortfall that had to be bridged.