Drogheda Port company selects the preferred bidder for deepwater port at Bremore

A Consortium led by Castle Market Holdings, which is controlled by Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett’s Treasury Holdings, has been chosen as the preferred bidder to co-develop a new €210m deepwater port at Bremore in north Co Dublin, writes Mark Paul.Drogheda Port company selected Castle Market, a subsidiary of the Treasury-controlled Real Estate Opportunities (REO), from a shortlist of bidders last week. The consortium also includes an unnamed “world class” port operator.
Drogheda Port said it had received 15 expressions of interest to develop the 150-acre site when the deadline for bids expired at the beginning of the summer. It said the development would help to relieve congestion at Dublin port, which had been caused by the 6.5% annual growth in freight volume on Ireland’s east coast over the past 15 years. Development works at the Bremore site commenced in 2002, but the next phase, for which REO has been brought on board, will see the construction of quays to cope with 5m tonnes of freight and a high-speed ferry berth to take car and passenger traffic. Castle Market and Drogheda port are still in talks to finalise details of the proposed development before plans are submitted early next year. The port could directly provide up to 450 jobs for the region.