Upgraded Spencer Jetty and refurbished accommodation officially opened at Haulbowline Naval Base

Fri, 02 Sep, 2022 - 16:27

Breda Graham

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has officially opened the newly upgraded Spencer Jetty and the refurbished Block 8 accommodation block at Haulbowline Naval Base in Cork.

The refurbishment of Block 8 was a €4.2 million project which saw the listed building at Haulbowline Naval Base upgraded to accommodate 70 living-in Naval Service personnel stationed at Haulbowline Naval Base.

Built in 1822, Block 8 is included on the Cork County Council Record of Protected Structures and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) rates it as a building of regional importance.

The €3 million Spencer Jetty project is part of a plan to increase berthing capacity for the current fleet in three distinct standalone infrastructural projects, with the Spencer Jetty Upgrade delivered as Phase 1.

Commodore Michael Malone, Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service; Jacqui McCrum, Dept of Defence; Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Mr Simon Coveney T.D. Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy; Fr Des Campion, Naval Chaplain, and Jim Langford, Senior Clerk of Works, Haulbowline, pictured at Haulbowline Naval Base. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

The upgrade of Spencer Jetty has successfully stabilised the structure to protect the sea entrance to the Naval Service Dockyard and Basin. The upgraded jetty now provides short-term berthage for NS vessels.

Speaking about the project, Minister Coveney said: “The Naval Service are seeing significant improvements here on Haulbowline Island. In addition to these recently completed projects, there are a further seven projects to be progressed in the naval base in the coming years at an estimated cost of €76m.

The refurbishment of further listed buildings will commence with Block 9 being next on the list. This will provide much-needed office space for the Naval Service. Block 4 will also be refurbished and this will provide accommodation for a further 60 personnel.

“These projects are already well into their design stage.” The Minister acknowledged “all those who worked extremely hard to bring this project to fruition and gave special thanks to the personnel in the Directorate of Engineering and within the Department of Defence.

“I particularly want to thank the personnel in the Directorate of Engineering and within the Department of Defence for their hard work on both of these projects.

“I’d like to congratulate O’Shea’s Builders Ltd on the fantastic work they’ve done on Block 8, and Cunningham/Quinn, for completing the complex Spencer Jetty project to an extremely high standard,” Minister Coveney said.

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