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Dublin Port News
The German Navy Tall Ship,
Dublin Port Company (DPC) and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ireland have today welcomed the arrival of the German Navy’s Tall Ship “Gorch Fock”, carrying a crew of 182, most of them young naval cadets. It…
German Navy Tall Ship 'Gorch Fock' will dock in Dublin Port on Thursday, June 2022
The German Navy tall ship Gorch Fock has anchored in Dublin Bay and will travel up the River Liffey into Dublin Port tomorrow, Thursday, 22nd June 2023, for a visit to the capital, carrying a total crew of 182, most…
Hamilton Shipping logo
Hamilton Shipping is currently recruiting for a Port Agency Assistant based in its busy Dublin Port office. Established in 1919 with offices in Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Galway and Foyle Port, Hamilton Shipping is one of the most experienced and…
Safe Passage Communication Course advertisement
Dublin Port Company in conjunction with The Irish Nautical Trust are promoting a Safe Passage Communication Course for all users of leisure craft in the Dublin Bay and Dublin Port area. Call VTS Channel 12 and contact your home club…
The Manx Nobby White Heather is the latest addition to the Irish Old Gaffer fleet, having recently been brought by Gary Lyons to Strangford Lough from Peel in the Isle of Man. To add interest to her sailing, every time you tack White Heather the rig obliges you to dip the main and mizzen yards so that they are always on the lee side of their masts
This weekend sees ancient gaff-rigged and other craft of multiple vintages gathering at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club in Ringsend in the heart of Dublin Port, within sight of some of the most modern ships afloat. It’s the 60th Anniversary…
Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club marina on Dublin’s River Liffey
The Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association have updated the programme of events for their 60th anniversary weekend at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club in Dublin Port later this month. Booking in commences Friday 26 May at 4pm ahead of the…
Pictured at the launch of Dublin Port Art and Engagement programme 2023 were Peter Rothweil, Julie Crowe and Matthew Williamson performing a short piece from “Back home to a wonderful time” by ANU productions watched on by Lar Joye, Port Heritage Director, Edel Currie, Community Engagement Manager for Dublin Port, Barry O’Connell, CEO of Dublin Port and Declan McGonagle, Curator of the Pumphouse Programme. The theme for this year’s Dublin Port Art and Engagement programme is ‘Connections: The Port, the City, Arts and Education’. Dublin Port’s plans for the Heritage Zone at the Pumphouse include expanding its use for public exhibitions, events and performances creating a distinct and unique destination in the heart of the working port as part of port-city integration plans up to 2040
Dublin Port Company, today, 3rd May 2023, announced details of its Art and Engagement programme 22/23 at the Pumphouse, Alexandra Road. The Pumphouse formerly housed the steam engine which powered the gates of Graving Dock 1 but has been repurposed…
Utterly timeless. The Howth 17s – which are celebrating their 125th birthday in 2023 with special races and a Regatta Week in late June in Baltimore – are here bringing the atmosphere of times past to the little harbour at Lambay, complete with a lineup of salty Fingal longshoremen on the quayside
Ten years ago, when the Old Gaffers Association’s Dublin visit was a highlight of their Golden Jubilee Cruise-in-Company, it was a very crowded and festive series of events based around Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club in late May 2013 that…
The Lord Mayor of Dublin and Honorary Admiral of Dublin Port, Cllr. Caroline Conroy pictured performing the ‘Casting of the Spear’ in Dublin Bay with Dublin Port CEO Barry O’Connell. The tradition dates back to 1488 when the city's boundaries were marked eastwards
The Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy, today performed the annual ‘Casting of the Spear’ into Dublin Bay, one the most important symbolic occasions on the Dublin Port calendar. In the process, she confirmed her title as Honorary Admiral of…
A new ‘Maritime Village - A modern sailing and rowing campus on the river Liffey as part of Dublin Port's 3FM Project. A modern sailing and rowing campus will provide enhanced facilities for a range of users, including sailing and rowing clubs, sea scouts, the Nautical Trust and local boat owners. The Maritime Village has been developed in consultation with local groups and will replace the current much smaller facilities as well as improving opportunities to view Port activities from the new waterside public plaza area. 
Dublin Port Company has today commenced formal public consultation on the 3FM Project, the third and final Masterplan project needed to complete the development of Dublin Port and bring it to its ultimate and final capacity by 2040. The 3FM…
Dublin Port lecture: ’The History of a Port City: Transport, Trade and an Archive’ is to be held on 29 March. Above scene from the port’s archives shows a busy Alexandra Basin from the 1920s where on the right shipbuilding took place. AFLOAT adds that the last ‘shipbuilding’ firm in the capital was the Liffey Dockyard which in 1958 built CIE’s Naomh Éanna. In January this year, the former Aran Islands ferry/cargoship when across the river in Grand Canal Dock (see below chimneys: Ringsend/Dodder) had partially capsized in a Georgian-era graving/dry-dock, itself a former vessel-building site.
Dublin Port Company’s Heritage Director, Lar Joye,will participate in this year’s Spring Lecture Series by Trinity College Dublin and the Dublin Cemeteries Trust. This series of four lectures is titled - Dublin: People, Places and their Heritage. As for the…
Emer O’Neill, broadcaster, author & activist is pictured at Dublin Port Company at the launch of the 16th annual Aware Harbour2Harbour Walk which takes place on St. Patrick’s Day, Friday 17th March with Stephen Butterly, Head of Fundraising & Business Development at Aware (left) and Barry O’Connell, Chief Executive at Dublin Port Company
Broadcaster, author and activist Emer O’Neill today launched the 16th annual Aware Harbour2Harbour Walk which will take place on St. Patrick’s Day, Friday 17th March from 10.30 am. Over 2,000 enthusiastic walkers are expected to take on the 26km challenge,…
P&O Ferries moves to Terminal 5 & Seatruck to Terminal 4 effective January 23rd 2023
Dublin Port Company (DPC) has announced that P&O Ferries and Seatruck will move locations within Dublin Port from January 23rd 2023. The move will see P&O Ferries relocate from existing Terminal 3 (East Wall Road) to Terminal 5 (T5), at…
Dublin Port Scholarship 21st Anniversary -  Cecile Ndeley, Scholarship Recipient, Sibheal Toner, Former Scholarship Recipient, Marie Fitzpatrick, Scholarship Recipient
Dublin Port Company (DPC) is celebrating 21 years of its Scholarship Programme. In this anniversary year, 24 new recipients from the port’s local communities have been awarded scholarships for 2022. The Dublin Port Scholarship Programme is the longest-running education bursary…
Barry O’Connell has been appointed as the next Chief Executive Officer of Dublin Port Company
The Board of Dublin Port Company has announced the appointment of Barry O’Connell as its new Chief Executive Officer from 14th November 2022 following an open and competitive recruitment process. Barry joins Dublin Port Company from the Coca-Cola System, where…
The view eastward over modern Ringsend. At first glance it seems totally tamed, with the formerly anarchic waterfront along the banks of the River Dodder (running left to right across photo foreground) now neatly tidied, while the south bank of the Liffey is kept in order by the dual carriageway accessing the Eastlink Bridge. But a “magic maritime space” has been preserved to provide room for Poolbeg Y&BC with its marina and mooring area, while there’s waterfront access and pontoons for the thriving Stella Maris and St Patrick’s Rowing Club
When the multi-talented John B Kearney (1879-1967) retired from a distinguished career in Dublin Port in 1944, he re-focused most of his attention on his parallel interest as a yacht designer and builder. It was an enduring passion that went…

About Dublin Port 

Dublin Port is Ireland’s largest and busiest port with approximately 17,000 vessel movements per year. As well as being the country’s largest port, Dublin Port has the highest rate of growth and, in the seven years to 2019, total cargo volumes grew by 36.1%.

The vision of Dublin Port Company is to have the required capacity to service the needs of its customers and the wider economy safely, efficiently and sustainably. Dublin Port will integrate with the City by enhancing the natural and built environments. The Port is being developed in line with Masterplan 2040.

Dublin Port Company is currently investing about €277 million on its Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR), which is due to be complete by 2021. The redevelopment will improve the port's capacity for large ships by deepening and lengthening 3km of its 7km of berths. The ABR is part of a €1bn capital programme up to 2028, which will also include initial work on the Dublin Port’s MP2 Project - a major capital development project proposal for works within the existing port lands in the northeastern part of the port.

Dublin Port has also recently secured planning approval for the development of the next phase of its inland port near Dublin Airport. The latest stage of the inland port will include a site with the capacity to store more than 2,000 shipping containers and infrastructures such as an ESB substation, an office building and gantry crane.

Dublin Port Company recently submitted a planning application for a €320 million project that aims to provide significant additional capacity at the facility within the port in order to cope with increases in trade up to 2040. The scheme will see a new roll-on/roll-off jetty built to handle ferries of up to 240 metres in length, as well as the redevelopment of an oil berth into a deep-water container berth.

Dublin Port FAQ

Dublin was little more than a monastic settlement until the Norse invasion in the 8th and 9th centuries when they selected the Liffey Estuary as their point of entry to the country as it provided relatively easy access to the central plains of Ireland. Trading with England and Europe followed which required port facilities, so the development of Dublin Port is inextricably linked to the development of Dublin City, so it is fair to say the origins of the Port go back over one thousand years. As a result, the modern organisation Dublin Port has a long and remarkable history, dating back over 300 years from 1707.

The original Port of Dublin was situated upriver, a few miles from its current location near the modern Civic Offices at Wood Quay and close to Christchurch Cathedral. The Port remained close to that area until the new Custom House opened in the 1790s. In medieval times Dublin shipped cattle hides to Britain and the continent, and the returning ships carried wine, pottery and other goods.

510 acres. The modern Dublin Port is located either side of the River Liffey, out to its mouth. On the north side of the river, the central part (205 hectares or 510 acres) of the Port lies at the end of East Wall and North Wall, from Alexandra Quay.

Dublin Port Company is a State-owned commercial company responsible for operating and developing Dublin Port.

Dublin Port Company is a self-financing, and profitable private limited company wholly-owned by the State, whose business is to manage Dublin Port, Ireland's premier Port. Established as a corporate entity in 1997, Dublin Port Company is responsible for the management, control, operation and development of the Port.

Captain William Bligh (of Mutiny of the Bounty fame) was a visitor to Dublin in 1800, and his visit to the capital had a lasting effect on the Port. Bligh's study of the currents in Dublin Bay provided the basis for the construction of the North Wall. This undertaking led to the growth of Bull Island to its present size.

Yes. Dublin Port is the largest freight and passenger port in Ireland. It handles almost 50% of all trade in the Republic of Ireland.

All cargo handling activities being carried out by private sector companies operating in intensely competitive markets within the Port. Dublin Port Company provides world-class facilities, services, accommodation and lands in the harbour for ships, goods and passengers.

Eamonn O'Reilly is the Dublin Port Chief Executive.

Capt. Michael McKenna is the Dublin Port Harbour Master

In 2019, 1,949,229 people came through the Port.

In 2019, there were 158 cruise liner visits.

In 2019, 9.4 million gross tonnes of exports were handled by Dublin Port.

In 2019, there were 7,898 ship arrivals.

In 2019, there was a gross tonnage of 38.1 million.

In 2019, there were 559,506 tourist vehicles.

There were 98,897 lorries in 2019

Boats can navigate the River Liffey into Dublin by using the navigational guidelines. Find the guidelines on this page here.

VHF channel 12. Commercial vessels using Dublin Port or Dun Laoghaire Port typically have a qualified pilot or certified master with proven local knowledge on board. They "listen out" on VHF channel 12 when in Dublin Port's jurisdiction.

A Dublin Bay webcam showing the south of the Bay at Dun Laoghaire and a distant view of Dublin Port Shipping is here
Dublin Port is creating a distributed museum on its lands in Dublin City.
 A Liffey Tolka Project cycle and pedestrian way is the key to link the elements of this distributed museum together.  The distributed museum starts at the Diving Bell and, over the course of 6.3km, will give Dubliners a real sense of the City, the Port and the Bay.  For visitors, it will be a unique eye-opening stroll and vista through and alongside one of Europe’s busiest ports:  Diving Bell along Sir John Rogerson’s Quay over the Samuel Beckett Bridge, past the Scherzer Bridge and down the North Wall Quay campshire to Berth 18 - 1.2 km.   Liffey Tolka Project - Tree-lined pedestrian and cycle route between the River Liffey and the Tolka Estuary - 1.4 km with a 300-metre spur along Alexandra Road to The Pumphouse (to be completed by Q1 2021) and another 200 metres to The Flour Mill.   Tolka Estuary Greenway - Construction of Phase 1 (1.9 km) starts in December 2020 and will be completed by Spring 2022.  Phase 2 (1.3 km) will be delivered within the following five years.  The Pumphouse is a heritage zone being created as part of the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project.  The first phase of 1.6 acres will be completed in early 2021 and will include historical port equipment and buildings and a large open space for exhibitions and performances.  It will be expanded in a subsequent phase to incorporate the Victorian Graving Dock No. 1 which will be excavated and revealed. 
 The largest component of the distributed museum will be The Flour Mill.  This involves the redevelopment of the former Odlums Flour Mill on Alexandra Road based on a masterplan completed by Grafton Architects to provide a mix of port operational uses, a National Maritime Archive, two 300 seat performance venues, working and studio spaces for artists and exhibition spaces.   The Flour Mill will be developed in stages over the remaining twenty years of Masterplan 2040 alongside major port infrastructure projects.

Source: Dublin Port Company ©Afloat 2020.