Shannon port company gets €3m EU grant for two projects

Shannon Foynes Port Company has got €3 million in EU grant aid for two projects. Chief executive Pat Keating says it is a major validation of plans to transform the Shannon estuary into a national economic corridor.

The company will receive €2.2 million in funding for its East Jetty Infill Programme at Foynes Port and €800,000 for a feasibility study for the regeneration of the rail link between Limerick and the port.

Mr Keating said it not alone provides key funding for two major projects essential for the delivery of the company’s long-term masterplan, Vision 2041, but is the most significant acknowledgement yet of the credibility of that plan and potential for advancing a major hub of economic activity along the estuary.

Just one in three applications for the latest round of the EU’s Trans European Transport Network (Ten-T) programme for transport infrastructure project funding was successful and Shannon Foynes said it got the top level of funding allowed – 20 per cent of jetty works total costs and 50 per cent for feasibility studies.

“We have the deep water, are developing the quay-side infrastructure, are very confident about the rail link and the last piece in the jigsaw will be the N69 upgrade,” said Mr Keating.