Castletownbere Fishery Harbour Centre in County Cork, one of the six State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres, has officially opened the Dinish Wharf Expansion. The €48m project was funded through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme, with part-funding of €6.55m from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.
The most recent quay expansion has delivered 216 metres of additional space and brings the overall facility on Dinish Island Wharf to over 400 metres in length. This expansion provides state-of-the-art, world-class facilities that generations to come will benefit from. The new breakwaters provide sheltered berthing conditions, allowing Castletownbere to facilitate landings by vessels of 100 metres in length and alleviate congestion during peak times.
The Minister for the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, acknowledged the role of the main contractor, Sorenson Civil Engineering Ltd, in delivering this recent phase. Despite COVID-19 restrictions and supply chain delays, they overcame the difficulties and delivered a first-class structure on par with the best in Europe.
In 2022, almost 87% of all fish landed in Ireland was in the six State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres. At Castletownbere, these landings were valued at circa €107 million. The six Fishery Harbour Centres are critical infrastructure for the seafood industry, as they attract increased fish landings that drive and maximise the opportunities for primary and secondary processing, ensuring a strong Irish seafood processing industry.
Minister McConalogue concluded by saying, "The continuous development of the infrastructure in the Harbour is critical to the fishing fleet and the land-based seafood processing industry. This critical infrastructure further demonstrates the importance this Government places on safeguarding the future of our fisheries-dependent coastal communities."