Rosslare Europort’s once in a generation chance
WITH THE GREENS ABOUT TO PLAY A KEY ROLE IN GOVERNMENT FORMATION, VERONA MURPHY BELIEVES NOW IS THE TIME TO BRING ABOUT A REAL TRANSFORMATION OF ROSSLARE EUROPORT
WITH the Green Party seemingly set for government and Brexit still lurking on the horizon, Independent TD Verona Murphy believes that the ‘perfect storm’ is brewing, which could result in the winds of change enveloping a long neglected Rosslare Europort.
As the former President of the Irish Road Hauliers Association, few of Deputy Murphy’s Oireachtas colleagues can claim to have the knowledge of freight traffic in and out of Irish Ports that she possesses. Listing off the numbers, she is firm in her belief that it’s now or never for Rosslare if it’s ever going to realise its potential.
It’s her belief that among the strongest cards in Wexford and Rosslare’s current hand is the ‘green card’ and she is calling for it to be played urgently. As the Green Party continue government formation talks with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, reducing our carbon footprint features highly on the agenda. Ireland has fared relatively poorly and continues to clock up fines for breaching emission quotas.
‘As part of the green agenda, we cannot continue to tolerate the current level of emissions on the M50,’ Deputy Murphy said. ‘Emissions are a huge problem in the city. We need to take some of the traffic out of Dublin. If we continue to expand Dublin Port and generate further traffic on the M50, how are we going to solve our emissions problem? Even by putting two extra ships into Rosslare, it would create a huge reduction in carbon emissions.
Verona Murphy TD.
It’s a no-brainer.’
Deputy Murphy is quick to rattle off the figures. She states that, with Rosslare at 40% capacity, it could currently accommodate 60% of Dublin Port’s 850,000 units. She also points out that this would free up 640 acres of prime space to develop housing in Dublin – a space that could accommodate up to 60,000 apartments, creating much needed construction jobs and alleviating some of the significant housing pressure in the capital in the process. The appetite for opening quicker routes to mainland Europe and cutting out traffic congestion in Dublin is certainly there among hauliers. So why hasn’t this happened?
‘Well, firstly, I suppose Wexford has never had an opportunity like this before,’ Deputy Murphy said. ‘I feel this is a once in generation opportunity for Rosslare that has presented itself here. Having said that, there’s been a lack of political will for years. What you have is Dublin politicians who are seeing it as jobs lost in Dublin. Realistically though, the jobs lost to Wexford can be replaced by jobs in the construction of 60,000 apartments in the midst of a housing crisis.’
In our own back yard, Deputy Murphy believes that her fellow Oireachtas members haven’t been vocal enough on the subject of Rosslare and need to get behind her proposal before it’s too late. ‘We have four other Oireachtas members whose parties are in government formation talks and are not without influence,’ she said. ‘Something on this has to go into the programme for government in the next two weeks and if it doesn’t, the people of Wexford have been let down badly. I’ve never seen such a lax attitude to such a big opportunity.’
Despite plans for a cash injection of some €30 million planned for Rosslare Europort, more funding will be required if it’s going to take it’s place as the primary route to mainland Europe. Deputy Murphy has an idea for this too. ‘I’m not quite as concerned about funding,’ she said. ‘If the 640 acres of land acquired by Dublin Port was sold to develop housing, it could be re-distributed and would more than cover the development of Rosslare. All across Europe, ports are being moved away from the main urban centres and it’s about time we followed suit. There’s no reason not to do this. Money is no stalling point.
‘It’s about the political will to get it done. For those saying it’s unrealistic, I’d love to hear why, because in my mind it’s a no-brainer. Rosslare can take another 300,000 units no problem if the ships are there and that’s enough to seriously alleviate some of the congestion problems at Dublin Port. This is not a pipe dream and if people get behind it, it can happen.’