dún laoghaire harbour company

Special Bulletin March 1997

Harbour goes Semi State

Dún Laoghaire Harbour is entering a new and exciting phase of its development. The Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company has been formed and registered under the Companies Acts to operate the Harbour. The enabling legislation which was championed by Minister for Defence and the Marine, Mr. Sean Barrett TD and Minister for State at the Department of the Marine, Mr. Eamon Gilmore TD came into effect on 3 March 1997.

The new legislation gives the company the power to manage its own affairs, to develop facilities and services to meet the changing needs of its customers and to allow it to operate efficiently, effectively and to the benefit of all Harbour users. In all eight commercial ports are changing from their present status to become commercial Semi State Companies. This is a new and exciting phase for Ireland's ports as it makes a new era of commercialism in which the objective is not merely to survive but to flourish. The management structure and new independence should allow the ports focus attention on their customers needs and wants. One of the most important aspects of the new legislation is to relax Departmental control while increasing accountability for operational and financial performances. It should however be pointed out that the State will be the sole shareholder in the new company.

The Directors appointed to the Board of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company are as follows:

• Mr. Philip Lynch (Chairman),
• Cllr. Betty Coffey,
• Cllr. Jane Dillon Byrne,
• Cllr. Donal Marren,
• Ms Aine Elliott,
• Ms Eithne Scott Lennon,
• Ms Ann Joyce,
• Ms Alice Hayes
• and Mr. Tim Wilson.

Councillors Coffey, Dillon Byrne and Marren were nominated by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. The Board will also include two Worker Directors who will be elected in the near future.

Dún Laoghaire's Engineering Heritage

Pictured above are Mr. Tom Vaughan, Harbour Manager/Engineer, Dún Laoghaire Harbour and Mr. Philip Callery, President, Institution of Engineers of Ireland (IEI) at the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the important position which Dún Laoghaire Harbour occupies in the engineering heritage of Ireland. The plaque was unveiled on the 11th February 1997 at the Ferry Terminal civic plaza as part of The Year of the Celebration of Irish Engineering organised by the IEI. In all, five sites were selected around the country, with Dún Laoghaire Harbour representing Leinster.