Dublin's docklands are to have a floating restaurant and retail area located in George's Dock, a saltwater basin in the International Financial Services Centre.
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) is currently considering proposals from persons or companies with suitable boats interested in running a business from the moorings. Proposals should be with the Authority by September 24th.
The development will be similar in style to Portobello in London, where strollers can enjoy a meal on a pontoon and buy trinkets and other items from moored trading boats.
It is all part of the DDDA's plan to bring new life and energy to the area. The pontoon, or floating boardwalk, is already in place and six moorings with service points for boats await occupants.
Mary McMahon, Regeneration Manager with the Authority, says it has no hard and fast rules about the nature of proposals. "We don't really know yet what to expect," she says, "but expect anything and everything from people who will operate snack bars to noodle outlets to others wanting to sell jewellery, books, speciality and cheap and cheerful items. It will bring added life and buzz to the area, which is what it's all about."
The Authority would prefer that applicants provide their own boats since, as McMahon points, these would of their nature be well cared for. "But having the best looking boats in the moorings is the most important thing," she says, "and if the worst comes to the worst we will buy our own and put them in place."
Licences will be awarded for a four-year period and the maximum draft of fully loaded boats will be 1.5 metres.
Proposals will be assessed on the basis of the general contribution the business will make towards the "enlivenment" of the area. They will also consider the visual attractiveness of the boat, the amount of annual licence fee offered and the financial structure of the operation in question. It is envisaged that the moored boats will be relatively small, similar in scale to barges.
The new boardwalk is accessed by two ramps and will be open to the public on a 24-hour, 365-days -a year basis. It is about 95 metres long and 7.27 metres wide.
The IFSC is in one of the busiest working areas covered by the Docklands Authority brief. Almost 15,000 people work there and a further 4,000 are residents. These figures are expected to grow to 17,000 and 6,000 respectively within five years.
A new student campus will open in the coming year and Connolly Station, through which 20,000 passengers pass daily, is nearby. The number of visitors to the IFSC is increasing all the time.
Development plans are increasing in number too. Stack A, a former warehouse close to George's Dock and Spencer Dock, is to become a cultural, retail and restaurant outlet and is expected to attract an additional 60,000 visitors annually, according to the Authority.
A "Docklands Trail", running from O'Connell Street east along the Liffey, is in the planning phase. The redevelopment of the campshires in City Quay and Customs House Docks, where walks, lamps, benches and more have been installed, is to be extended. Tenders are being invited for the next section of these, which will run as far as the Point Depot on North Wall Quay.
All of the proposed work will, Mary McMahon points out, "connect with the moored trading boats in the water and change the view of the IFSC as purely a financial centre".
