West Limerick port's plan to reach 75% of Irish trade in under three hours

THE boss of the Shannon Foynes Port Company has said once infrastructure is in place, the West Limerick village will be able to reach three-quarters of Irish trade in less than three hours.

Pat Keating, the company’s chief executive was speaking as a new jetty expansion and logistics park were unveiled in Foynes.

It’s being seen as a key step on the journey propelling Shannon Estuary as a national and international supply chain hub of scale.

“What we’re doing here is very much in the national interest. We’re investing heavily here, as per what we’re unveiling today. The State is doing its part with the new road to Foynes and we also have the rail link on the way. When this infrastructure is finalised in the coming years, this port will be able to reach 75% of Ireland’s trade within two-and-a-half hours. With that, for example, we’ll have the potential to move goods from here all the way up to Kildare as fast as they’ll reach there from Dublin today,” he said.

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Mr Keating insisted it is not about competing with Dublin, more about complementing and “taking pressure off ”decongesting” the capital from the trucks it receives from its own port.

“Better supply chain makes us more attractive for investment. It’s also very much in keeping with Project Ireland 2040 in that it’s rebalancing the national economy by improving supply chain. That’s the vision and it’s beginning to be realised,” he said.

Limerick Minister Patrick O’Donovan was on hand to open the jetty expansion and logistics park this week.

It comes off the back of a €32m investment, co-funded by the Shannon Foynes Port Company and the European Union’s connecting Europe facility.

Two years of work have led up to this point, where Foynes hosts one of Ireland’s largest serviced port logistics parks.

Mr O’Donovan said: “This investment we are unveiling is all about the future, about ensuring that we have the infrastructure in place not just in this region but in Ireland to create a future where economic growth and sustainability go hand in glove. Shannon Foynes Port has been planning for that future as far back as a decade ago with the launch of its masterplan Vision 2041 and a great thing about what we are unveiling today also is that it is a port authority that clearly delivers on its ambition.”

Mr Keating added: “We’re building for the future here and we are effectively enabling the future here. It’s a future that we all want for generations following us as we’re investing heavily in infrastructure that will do two things. One is to accelerate our journey as a nation to become a world leader in offshore renewable energy by harnessing our limitless wind energy capacity off the Atlantic seaboard.”

Ultimately, he said the improvements mean business growth for the Mid-West.

Shannon Foynes Port Chairperson Michael Walsh said: “The opportunity ahead is unparalleled for Ireland thanks to the confluence of assets here on the estuary. Its unrivalled deep waters, proximity to some of the most powerful winds in the world and soon to be radically enhanced multi-modal connectivity, means that we are on the cusp of something very significant here. You need a plan, and you need the people to make that happen and today confirms we at Shannon Foynes Port have both. This is one step on a journey that has some distance to go but one that I’ve every confidence will be travelled. Shannon Foynes Port has a key role in delivering this opportunity for Ireland.”