Crazy to expand Cork Port while spare capacity exists elsewhere

The Port of Cork Company has been granted planning by An Bord Pleanála for a container terminal at Ringaskiddy, despite senior inspectors having advised rejection of permission. Following rejection of their application in 2008, due to inadequate roads and no rail facilities, Port of Cork nevertheless proceeded with a container facility at Ringaskiddy in 2012.

Once again, we hear the old mantra about container ships getting bigger, and Port of Cork losing trade in consequence. This is untrue. The ships that supply Cork also service the other Irish ports. Like Cork, these ports have similar tidal constraints. Ultimately, the depth of the Kiel Canal dictates the size of ships which service the European ports. We are a small country, with a low level of trade in comparison with the mainland. Ringaskiddy can never be a Ten-T, Tier-1 Port. It does not have the vital rail connectivity and has a road infrastructure that is inferior to north and east Munster’s.

There have been no transport infrastructural improvements which would warrant a change in planning policy.