Bits & Pieces

It's been a few weeks since the Old Blog Cabin was updated so I will summarise this posting.

During the week it emerged that the Port of Cork is now looking again at the option of Marino Point near Cobh as the location of the new container terminal for the port. There seemed to be a marked reluctance by the port authority to look at this site when they were initially looking for a location for the container terminal which had outgrown its Tivoli site near Cork city. The former Irish Fertiliser Industries (IFI) site which already has a natural deepwater basin came on the market after IFI was closed down some years ago and could have been bought at the time. To buy it now would cost a lot more. Ringaskiddy is not completely gone as an option but the lack of a rail link may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle. We will watch for further developments with interests.

There are a number of cruise liners coming to Cork Port over the next week or so. Le Diamant is currently at Cork's North Custom House Quay while Century is due in Cobh in the early hours of tomorrow morning to be followed by the enormous Independence of the Seas making her third visit to Cobh on Saturday while Artemis visits the following Friday, 29th August.

On a sad note I would like to pay tribute to my friend Denis O'Connor who died suddenly last Friday. Denis was a docker at the ferry terminal at Ringaskiddy and a leading trade union representative in SIPTU. He was also a member of the Workers' Party and many other organisations. He had a strong interest in all things maritime and was a regular visitor to this blog. May he rest in peace.