Dublin Port has said it will increase cruise calls again in 2024-25.
Dublin Port has confirmed that from 2024-25, once major construction works on a 400-metre quay wall have been completed, cruise calls will increase to 150.
Following more construction work, due to be completed in 2026, cruise calls will increase past 200, according to a briefing document handed to the Irish government by the port.
The port has insisted the decision was made to accommodate the site’s booming cargo business post-Brexit. In 2018, cruise accounted for 2.5% of the port’s total revenue.
The berthing policy was met with widespread dismay by the cruise industry.
Clia Europe says talks with Dublin Port are ongoing as it tries to convince authorities to abandon plans to have no turnaround cruise calls from 2021.
Martyn Griffiths, Clia Europe’s director of public affairs, said despite the news that cruise calls to the port would increase again in 2024-25, no turnaround calls from 2021 remained a “big concern”.
He said: “We are working with the cruise community in Ireland and the Irish government because it will have a knock-on effect across the country.
“A lot of work is going on by the cruise lines and by Clia and we are happy to see things moving in the right direction.
“We are talking with the port on a daily basis.”
Clia Europe is waiting to hear back from Shane Ross, the government’s transport minister, after requesting a meeting with him.