The Port Issue

Port Development Timeline

• In 1999, Drogheda Port attempted to develop a new port at Mornington in County Meath. That was successfully rebuffed by the local community.

• Starting in 2006, a plan involving Drogheda Port Company, Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett’s Treasury Holdings and Hong-Kong based Hutchinson Port Holdings attempted to develop a port in Bremore which is located in Balbriggan in Fingal. There was serious opposition by local communities in Balscadden, Balbriggan and surrounding communities on many grounds, particularly archaeological. The proposed project fizzled out in 2012 after the economic crash.

• Meath County Councillors voted to support the development of a port in Gormanston on the Meath County Council Development Plan 2021-2027, swayed mainly by the proposed job and economic benefits talked up by the promoters. There is a serious conflict of interest by some councillors outside our municipal district who put forward motions supporting the development. Since that time, some of our local councillors in the Municipal District of Ashbourne have recanted their support once they began to learn what the project entailed. Some of our local TDs have also voiced their opposition.

• In October 2023, Drogheda Port Company and Ronan Group Real Estate officially announced to Government their plans to develop a new, deep-water port on Ireland’s East Coast. Bremore Ireland Port is a joint venture between both Drogheda Port and Ronan Group. Despite its name, Bremore Ireland Port is proposed to be located on Gormanston Beach and not in Bremore.

• Bremore Ireland Port on 7th December 2023 held a briefing in CityNorth Hotel in Gormanston on the proposed port project. While the presentation was exclusively for the residents of Gormanston, we invited representatives from neighbouring communities to get a first look at what was being proposed. To the consternation of the entire audience present, we were not looking only at a proposed new port. We were effectively looking at a proposed new town covering the lands right up to the existing Gormanston Village itself.

• On 12th April 2024, the community of Gormanston formally advised Drogheda Port of our total opposition to their proposed development.