Dublin Port Company (DPC) has announced that Dublin Inland Port will open in early November 2021, with Dublin Ferryport Terminals (DFT) confirmed as the first company licenced to begin operating at the state-of-the-art facility in North Dublin.

The move will enable DFT, as the operator of one of the country’s largest container terminals, to increase its total throughput handling capacity at Dublin Port by 20%.

DPC has invested more than €48m to date acquiring and developing Dublin Inland Port on a 44-hectare site some 14km from Dublin Port, with direct access to the M50 and to Dublin Port via the Dublin Port Tunnel.

The opening of Dublin Inland Port delivers on a key commitment in DPC’s Masterplan 2040 to maximise the use of existing port lands by allowing port-related, but non-core activities – such as empty container storage – to be relocated away from Dublin Port.

The development at Dublin Inland Port will result in more efficient use of the Dublin Port Tunnel and of Dublin Port’s internal network by diverting HGVs dropping off or collecting empty containers to Dublin Inland Port.

Cormac Kennedy, Head of Property, Dublin Port Company, said; “DPC has invested more than €48m to date acquiring and developing this state-of-the-art hub. This first phase of Dublin Inland Port will be ready to hand over to DFT in time to commence operations in November. We look forward to welcoming DFT and seeing their business go from strength to strength at the facility.

“This depot has been constructed to the highest of standards and occupies one of the best locations to access Dublin Port. The current phase at Dublin Inland Port is capable of accommodating up to 6,000 shipping containers at any one time when fully operational, in an area the same size as Merrion Square. Other shipping and logistics operators will join DFT at the facility as DPC continues to maximise the capacity of Dublin Port’s existing footprint to meet national port capacity requirements in the period of Masterplan 2040.”