Port of Cork in line for major expansion after €99m finance deal

A €99m financing deal to fund a major expansion of the Port of Cork, announced as part of Budget 2025, will help Cork to become a major hub of renewable offshore energy, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.

The funding deal with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) will close a funding gap previously identified by the port and allow it to extend its deepwater facilities at Ringaskiddy, works for which it already has planning permission.

ISIF is a sovereign investment fund which has a mandate to invest on a commercial basis to support economic activity and employment in Ireland, and is managed and controlled by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

Thrilled

Mr Martin told The Echo that he was “thrilled” with the investment, and had been working on securing the deal for a year, following extensive consultation with Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe.

“It had to go through a few hoops to get through, but it’s a major breakthrough for Cork Port and a major breakthrough for renewable energy on the southern coast,” the Tánaiste said.

“Because the Port of Cork is the one port that already has planning permission to proceed with these developments, it can get on with the investment now to enable it to be ready to meet the offshore wind developments of the next few years.”

He said he believed the investment would help build the infrastructure required to allow Cork to become a hub for the offshore wind industry.

“It’s really very good news, it’s the first port in the Republic that will be in a position to develop facilities of this kind at this scale,” Mr Martin said.

A spokesperson for the Port of Cork Company said it was delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with ISIF on what it called a critical port infrastructure project.

“We have been working on this for quite some time and it is thanks to the help of ISIF and CINEA [the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency] that we have been able to bridge the vital funding gap that we had identified,” they said.

Investment

Simon Coveney, Fine Gael TD for Cork South Central, said the news would mean “tens if not hundreds of millions of euros of infrastructure being put together in the heart of Cork Harbour, facilitated by the Port of Cork”.

“That’s going to mean more investment, more jobs, more activity in the harbour, in a way that will be very good for the Irish economy as a whole,” he said.

“Cork at the moment is the only port in the Republic of Ireland that has the capacity to be able to make the changes in their port infrastructure to be able to do this, this is an enormous piece of infrastructure being assembled and put on barges or towed out directly onto the sites where they’re going to be assembled off the south and south-east coast of Ireland.”

Welcoming the news, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central, said Cork had huge potential to be an international hub for renewable offshore energy.

“I and others, including Cork Chamber of Commerce and the Cork Offshore Renewable Industry Forum, have been calling for some time for investment in the Port of Cork, so this is very welcome,” Mr Ó Laoghaire said.

“It’s very necessary, and I hope that this can be expedited because there are a number of blockages to delivering the potential jobs that can exist in Cork in terms of renewable energy.

“The Port of Cork is one, it’s good to see that addressed, but we also need to see serious investment in skills in terms of the various forms of technicians, apprentices, engineers and so on that will be needed and the kind of jobs that can be created in that regard, but we also need investment in the grid to ensure that we can bring ashore as much energy as possible.

Necessary

“This is an important step, a necessary step, but we need to build upon this to ensure Cork’s future as a renewable energy hub.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath, who is contesting the next general election in the Cork South Central constituency, said that while he welcomed the further development of the Port of Cork, he urged that local residents and the wider community be consulted on the project.

“The announcement of funding is welcome, and the Port of Cork has ambitious plans in relation to renewable energy facilities, and that’s welcome, but I would ask the port to continue to engage with the local community and the local residents on any future plans for Ringaskiddy,” said Mr McGrath.

Fine Gael councillor Úna McCarthy, who is also general election candidate for Cork South Central, said the announcement was a major boost for Cork.

“The investment is a significant step towards enhancing our offshore renewable capacity, supporting our transition to a greener future, and creating clean jobs that will benefit the local economy for years to come,” she said.

“As a resident of the lower harbour, I look forward to seeing this development progress.”