Locating a Port at Bray, may seem an odd choice at first glance! 

But the populated East Coast of Ireland, urgently needs a modern deep-water port and alternatives are few.

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Strengthening Ireland's marine connections with the EU, makes sense in these politically turbulent times!

The few hours currently saved on shipments via the UK land-bridge route, will soon be erased by the complications of Brexit!

And continuing use of the shallow, dredged harbours of Dublin and  Belfast, is logistically inefficient and wasteful of Prime Land located so close to the City Centre.

 

The World has moved on in the last 200 years! And so too have the functional requirements of marine logistics.

Economics, drives the massive increase in the scale of ships that service the industry. An Industry on the cusp of full automation of both Ports and Ships. Powered by green energy, in a future where polluting fossil fuels are banned from use in EU Territorial Waters.!

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90% of World non-bulk cargo is transported by Container.

Large Container Ships are 20,000+ TEU capacity mega-ships with an 18 to 20 metre draft!

Medium size ships of the New Panamax Class carry 9,500 TEU's,  are 366m long x 49m wide, and a draft of 15.2m. 

Even this smaller Class of Container Ship cannot be accommodated in Ports such as Dublin or Belfast.

Just think of the inefficiency and added cost-burden to Ireland, that trans-shipping to small vessels necessitates!**

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Ireland's Infrastructure urgently requires upgrading to keep pace with rapid social change.

The visionless, fractured, and cripplingly slow system of male-dominated Irish political governance, is well-past it's sell-by date.

Political inadequacies so starkly revealed by the current pandemic! 

Fortunately, the EU now appears to be in the process of creating a new economic model.

So EU and State-backed guarantees for Projects of this nature, may be forthcoming in the foreseeable future.

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For those who consider the Concept radical, I refer to local History:

Some 200 years ago, the magnificent Dun Laoghaire Harbour and Coastal Railway, were constructed with little more than picks and shovels.

These and similar engineering feats, helped accelerate Ireland into the Nineteenth Century.

We should also remember that Infrastructure is a driver of jobs and the broader economy!

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The Concept Drawings begin to make sense, when the need for radical improvement in East Coast import/export logistics is taken into account. Links to existing road and rail networks are simple to construct. The foreshore between Bray and Killiney can also be reclaimed as part of any comprehensive development. A continuous green Esplanade between Bray and Killiney opens up the entire Coastline for Leisure and Recreation.