Waterford to welcome cruising golfers in August
February 16, 2007


Waterford has been named by Crystal Cruises as one of the ports that the recently revamped Crystal Symphony will call at in August as part of a cruise billed as a “true once-in-a-lifetime experience for the golf connoisseur”. The golf-themed cruise will offer guests the chance to play at Scotland’s famed St Andrews Links and some of the most challenging and scenic courses in Ireland.

The only British Isles cruise on Crystal’s 2007 schedule, the 11-day voyage on the 940-guest vessel departs London on August 20 and offers guests optional play at the Jubilee Course in St Andrews as well as a number of the finest courses in Ireland including Mount Juliet, Co Kilkenny; The K Club, Co Kildare; Harbour Point Golf Club, Cork and Royal Belfast Golf Club.

Each excursion features the chance to play 18 holes of championship golf while those taking part will also enjoy 45-minute warm-up sessions where available, a Hole-in-One competition, exclusive golfers-only parties and the option of pre-reserving all their golf excursions online before departing.

Complementing the golf adventures is the chance to attend lectures by Emmy Award-winning sports broadcaster Jim Huber and golf clinics with legendary golf champion Billy Casper. A veteran journalist of 34 years and the lead golf reporter for CNN/Sports Illustrated, Jim Huber is the host of CNN’s Pro Golf Weekly and has covered many PGA pro tournaments. Having won 51 PGA Tour victories, including two US Opens and the Masters, Billy Casper ranks sixth on the PGA Tour's all-time victory list.

Casper will be joined by PGA pro John Clark, a 35-year member of the PGA, who has taught thousands of golfers at all skill levels to improve their technique, focus on their swing and more fully enjoy the game.

Welcoming the announcement that Waterford is included on the golf cruise itinerary, Ben Gavin, Chairman, Port of Waterford said: “While it is a non-core activity, Port of Waterford is very conscious of the value of cruise ship calls to the retail, tourism and hospitality sectors across the southeast and we are committed to continued development of this business in 2007 and beyond.

“In this context, along with our partners at Waterford Crystal we have an established relationship with Crystal Cruises going back well over a decade and look forward to welcoming Crystal Symphony back in August for this special golf-centred cruise. The cruise gives Crystal’s guests the opportunity to play at many premier golf courses on a single trip and the luxury of unpacking just once! Because of the onboard activities and shore trips, golfers and non-golfers can also travel together while pursuing different interests.

“Crystal Cruises have a tremendous reputation with 11 consecutive years of ‘World’s Best Large Ship Cruise Line’ awards voted by the readers of Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveller magazines. To put the level of luxury we are talking about in context, it is perhaps worth noting that more than $35m has been spent on refurbishing Crystal Symphony in the last 30 months or so.”

Port engages Ascon for quay extension at Waterford Container Terminal
January 19, 2007


The Port of Waterford has awarded a €10m contract to Ascon Ltd to construct a 190-metre quay extension at Waterford Container Terminal.

Work will begin in mid-March and it is anticipated that the project will be substantially complete by year-end.

Ascon Ltd has been involved in infrastructure developments at Belview since the early 1990s when shipping activity first relocated from the city quays in Waterford.

Speaking as contracts were signed, Ben Gavin, Chairman, Port of Waterford said the latest extension to the quays at Belview was being advanced to meet growing customer demand.

“There has been significant growth in container and other traffic through Port of Waterford in recent years and this extension will facilitate considerable additional growth. Port of Waterford is the only major port in the State that has secured planning consent for further expansion and is therefore well placed to provide the additional capacity required by a growing economy.”

Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Transport, added: “The board and management at Port of Waterford are to be congratulated for their foresight in securing planning consents well in advance, leaving themselves in a strong position to bring forward infrastructure as and when required.

“Simultaneous to this investment in an extended quay, the Transport 21 programme will see considerable progress on the roads network in the southeast. Completion of the Waterford City Bypass, which includes the second river crossing, and the Waterford-Dublin motorway will further improve access to and from the Port at Belview in general and Waterford Container Terminal in particular.”

Port of Waterford to fund war memorial as part of community outreach

November 29, 2006

The Port of Waterford has agreed to fund a memorial statue to be erected on the city’s south quays in commemoration of the Waterford boy who was the youngest Allied soldier to die in World War I and all Irish men and women who have died in conflicts at home and abroad.

The memorial is earmarked for a site at the junction of Henrietta St and the Quay where port activity in Waterford was historically centred before Waterford Container Terminal was established down-river at Belview.

Designed by Waterford-based artist Pat Cunningham and architect Anne Harpur, the memorial will feature a visually-striking lit sculpture and commemorate John Condon, who hailed from Wheelbarrow Lane off Ballybricken in Waterford and was only 14 when he was killed on May 24, 1915 while fighting with the Royal Irish Regiment at Bellevarde Ridge, Belgium, during the second Battle of Ypres.

Private Condon was buried at Poelkapelle Cemetery near Ypres when his body was discovered in 1923.

There has been renewed interest in the story of the boy soldier in recent years and his grave is among the most frequently visited of the thousands on the former Western Front.

Speaking after the Port board agreed to fund the memorial with an allocation of over €52,000, Ben Gavin, chairman, Port of Waterford said it was timely for John Condon and all those who have died in war in Ireland and overseas to be remembered in a formal way in the city.

“Tens of thousands of Irish men and women fought and died in the 1914-1918 conflict and the John Condon story in many ways captures the ideals that prompted many of that generation to go and fight in often horrendous circumstances. It is believed that hundreds of men born in Waterford were killed with the British Army alone while many more died with the then Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy.”

The major funding for the quayside war memorial is the latest move by the Port of Waterford as part of an ongoing community outreach programme that has seen the Port provide over €220,000 in funding to worthy causes in 2004-2006.

“We take our responsibilities as corporate citizens very seriously and recognise that business success brings social responsibilities.

“The type of projects we have been able to support during the last 36 months include the Irish Youth Foundation, Little Red Kettle Theatre Company, Down Syndrome Association of Ireland, RNLI, Simon Community and the appeal funds established after the O’Regan family fire in Ballybeg and the Rising Sun trawler tragedy. We also provided €200,000 in support of Waterford’s successful hosting of Tall Ships’ Races 2005 and are again backing the 2011 host port application to Sail Training International,” Mr Gavin added.

Largest capacity cruise ship ever to visit Waterford drops anchor at Dunmore East

September 26th 2006

Star Princess, the largest cruise ship – by capacity – ever to visit the Port of Waterford dropped anchor at Dunmore East this morning (Sept 26) with 2,516 passengers and 1,092 crew members on board.

During a day-long visit, the cruise passengers will be brought on shore excursions to visitor attractions across the southeast on 48 specially hired coaches ferrying them from and to Dunmore East.

Destinations for shore excursions include Waterford Crystal; Kilkenny Castle; the Titanic Trail in Cobh; the Dunbrody famine ship; Waterford Museum of Treasures and Jerpoint Abbey.

Star Princess has overall capacity for 3,300 passengers and sailed to Waterford from Falmouth en route to Greenock in Scotland. From there, the ship will sail to the Faroe Islands and on to Waterford’s sister city – St John’s in Newfoundland – before arriving in New York via New England.

Owned by Princess Cruises who carried some 1.3m passengers annually on cruises lasting from seven to 102 days, Star Princess is 289m long and 108,806 gross tonnes. It has over 700 spacious state rooms with balconies and an entire deck of mini-suites while guests can relax in four swimming pools and a Spa before eating at one of three onboard dining rooms and hanging out at Shooters Cigar Bar or Skywalkers Nightclub.

Commenting on the ship’s maiden call at Waterford, Ben Gavin, Chairman, Port of Waterford said it was the latest in a series of high-profile cruise ships to make Waterford their destination of choice.

“The arrival of Star Princess should be a source of great pride to all those who have worked so hard over the years to make Waterford a premier cruise destination.

“The influx in late September of over 2,500 affluent visitors will obviously provide a tremendous late-season fillip to tourism in the southeast and the fact that almost 50 coaches are required to take the passengers on the various shore excursions tells its own story about the scale of ship we are dealing with at Dunmore East. We also now look forward with confidence to 2007 when Waterford can again expect to play host to some of the finest ships afloat.”

Star Princess is the last cruise ship of 20 to call at Waterford during the 2006 season and its visit coincides with a call at Belview by Clipper Adventurer, a 122-passenger cruise vessel.

The Port of Waterford Company has today (July 12) welcomed the Supreme Court decision to uphold a judgment delivered in the High Court in November 2005 by Mr Justice Eamon De Valera, that it is within its legal powers and authority in disposing of part of Waterford’s inner port.

The judgment was delivered in the Supreme Court this morning (Wed).

A legal challenge has prevented the Port’s plans to dispose of surplus lands on the north-side of the River Suir and the way is now clear for the sale to be completed.

The Port of Waterford Company was represented in its defence of the unsuccessful action taken by OF Fishing Ltd of Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford by Bill Shipsey S.C., Patrick Butler S.C. and Tony O’Connor B.L., instructed by Sean Nolan, MJ O’Connor Solicitors.

Speaking afterwards, a Port spokesman said the company is delighted at the outcome which upheld the rights of the Company to sell non-core assets.

“The sale of the North Quays will allow the Port, which is a key piece of regional and national economic infrastructure, to develop further. In this instance, the land sale also clears the way – subject to planning permission - for a mixed use riverside development on the North Quays and Frank Cassin Wharf that offers tremendous potential for Waterford and the southeast. The delay of 18 months caused by the failed course of action pursued by OF Fishing Ltd against Port of Waterford Company is regrettable.”

Facilitated by the region’s inward investment and foreign trade agency Flanders Investment & Trade, the visit allowed Waterford to be marketed to key decision makers from shipping lines specialising in international container traffic.

Successful twice-weekly services are currently operated between Waterford and the Port of Zeebrugge by C2C Shipping Lines, a joint venture between ECS and Cobelfret.

According to Ben Gavin, chairman, Port of Waterford, “The group’s visit to Waterford Container Terminal gave us an excellent opportunity to outline the unique features that we believe combine to make Waterford the logical choice for companies shipping to and from Europe.

“There is a growing appreciation for Waterford’s excellent location as the nearest Irish seaport to mainland Europe and – for imported goods – our proximity to all of the major markets on Ireland’s eastern and southern coasts.

“This is coupled with an increased recognition that there need to be viable alternatives to shipping through Dublin Port with the congestion that entails. Another major selling point that appealed to the group we met today is that Waterford operates on a 24/7 basis and offers the sort of flexibility that isn’t found at ports elsewhere.”