Regardless on how they manipulate or change the plans the land at Bremore is now set for developements and if this is allowed the site cannot survive as it once was; a deeply special, spiritual and beautiful place connected to the very beginnings of us.
Behind this is the usual story of development and land speculation in Ireland. The planners say that a deepwater port is desperately needed to maintain and safeguard our economy and that the only place it can be built is at Bremore. The port at Dublin they say has reached its capacity and is no longer big enough. In tandem the Dublin Port Authority who own and runs Dublin Port are seeking planning permission to enlarged the port by filling in 54 acres of the bay along the coast of Clontarf. All this is know and in the news even if most people show little interest in it.
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority seem content to work against their duty and play a double game, they allow a process run which may one day close the Dublin Docks and turn it into a large developer led complex of apartments, shops and marinas. They often seem to want the Port out of the way. Up to last year the board included Sean Fitzpatrick, the disgraced head of Anglo Irish Bank, as one of its directors. Its new chairman/woman is Prof. Niamh Brennan, lesser known as the wife of former PD boss Michael McDowell. It was his party, The Progressive Democrat Party who drew up the plans and announced the proposal to move Dublin port to Bremore. She was placed in the job this year by her supposed ideological arch enemy, the green man; John Gormley.
Noel Dempsy has also made it clear that he, as Minister for Transport, will give the go ahead to what is planned at Bremore even before he has seen the plans, he agreed to make changes to the harbour Act that would allow Drogheda Port Company to proceed and he has been pushing it silently for years. With a cast like that it should come as no surprise that environmental and heritage destruction is again being planned and dressed up as progress.
However it must not be like this.
The huge oil terminal at Dublin Docks must be eventually moved, this has been planed for years and the old Whitty Oil Refinery site in Cork has been mooted as one place where it could be rebuilt. There is a deep water port there too and as all oil tankers come up from the south it would be a natural place to reposition and build an oil depot. If that were to be done it would free up enough place for the Dublin Docks to expand where it is and Bremore could be left to tourists, walkers, heritage lovers and nature.
Also some years back private developer/s bought a large piece of reclaimed land, circa 13.5 ha at Dublin Docklands and named it the East Point Business Park. Phase one of this development opened in 1996 but for some reason many of the units were left to lie empty. Today much of this site still stands empty. There is enough room there for expansion, it could be compulsory purchased if need be and thus the Dublin port enlarged without the destruction of Bremore. This though is not even mentioned. As to how or why this site was sold is not discussed. It was known that that the Port was running out of space but no one apparently came to the conclusion that this land might be needed.
The oil terminal cannot exist much longer in the middle of a city, its carries a huge pollution, explosion and fire risk but it now seems that if it is to be moved then it moves out to Bremore too.
All ships coming to Ireland from Europe, Asia and Africa, except the Scandinavian and German ones, come up from the south and so the building of a deep water port, if needed, should take place on the southern coast and/or on the west coast to facilitate the gigantic trade coming from the Americas. Again there are deep water ports all along the west coast, the deepest and largest being the one at Foynes near Limerick. This though is largely unused today and there are no plans to built it up.
It would make sense to move the oil depot and if need be the East Point Business Park out and away from the city, then build the extension of the port on the freed up lands there. These sites sit side by side and were once part of the same port land take.
Alternatively or in tandem many of the smaller ports along our coasts could be enlarged and have them specialize it different cargo's. Worldwide there is a move away from giant ports like the one planned at Bremore and to smaller specialized ones. The plans for Bremore again flies in the face of what we should be doing but the people doing it are the same people, names and faces behind the disaster we as tax payers are now slowly having to pay for.
Those who have bought the land at Bremore seem set to move on Bremore, it is a closed circle and one without debate. It is bald greed and ego driving an unwanted and unneeded development, the kind that has just destroyed our country and it beggars belief that is is to happen again. As at Tara so at Bremore too.
If they get to build on Bremore we will end up with another priceless part of our heritage gone, more of our land will go under cement, it will further pollute the east coast, bring further development and with it population growth and suburbanization right in perhaps to the Hill of Tara itself, our old soul and centre.
"Europe's first slum, a role that won't be hard, with a cast of crooks and tarts".
Philip Larkin. Going Going Gone.
They will in all probability end up infilling Dublin Bay at Clontarf too, and this land together with the old oil terminal and the East Point Business Park land will then be sold on to developers and a sea of ugly unwanted cement will appear where the Dublin Docks used to be.
Acitivy like this will be used to kick start the poisoned model of economics that has just failed and ensnared us, it will push us ever deeper into their perverse ideal of progress and if it goes wrong again then we will be called to pay for it.
But do you want this?
Do you want to pay for their plunder, mistakes and corruption, do you want to lose whats left of our once special magical heritage? Do you want to see whats left of our land, environment and ecology being raped and ruined while they grow get fat on the profits and plan the next assault?
If not, if you feel strongly about this then please get involved in Bremore now. Do not wait like we waited at Tara, do not wait until it is too late to stop them.
The Way In.
