Displaying items by tag: Port decision delay

28th April 2017

Still No Date for Galway Harbour's Port Extension Decision

The €126 million port extension is for a four-phase development that involves reclaiming 27 hectares of bay area,

#PortDelay - The delay in issuing a decision on the Port of Galway's multi million euro harbour extension looks set to continue, with An Bord Pleanála stating this week that they have no timeline on a possible decision date, writes The Galway Independent.

The €126 million port extension is a four-phase development that involves reclaiming 27 hectares of bay area, providing a new marina and berths which will see the biggest cruise liners in the world being able to dock at the harbour in the heart of the city.

It has been over three years since the planning application to extend the port was submitted.

This week, a spokesperson for An Bord Pleanála said, “The current status of the proposed harbour development is that the Harbour Company has submitted proposals for compensatory measures to address the environmental impacts of the proposed development on Galway Bay and these initial proposals are being considered by An Bord Pleanála.

“Once this office is satisfied that the proposals are acceptable in principle, the Harbour Company will be given an opportunity to develop them in more detail.

“At this time I do not have a time line on these actions.”

To read more including Port Traffic, click here.

Published in Galway Harbour

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour