PLANNING permission is being sought from South Dublin County Council for a national freight distribution centre in Clondalkin, with a rail link to Dublin Port.
In one of the largest planning applications in the history of the State, the developers are seeking approval to install 2.5 million square feet of warehousing, office and industrial buildings on a 186-acre site at Clonburris.
It is estimated that the £100-million-plus-scheme has the potential to create 5,000 jobs when fully completed. The first phase - a round-the-clock rail link to the port for freight traffic - could be operational in two years.
The project team says this would take a "significant number" of heavy goods vehicles off city-centre streets, particularly the Liffey quays, although it is not being put forward as an alternative to the port tunnel.
Freight trains would run every hour on upgraded rail lines between the proposed National Distribution Park in Clondalkin and Alexandra Basin in Dublin Port via the largely disused Phoenix Park tunnel and Cabra Junction.
This element is being planned with CIE, which currently has a large rail freight yard on the North Wall. One aim is to achieve a significant switch of container traffic from road to rail.
It is understood the Taoiseach, the Tanaiste and other Ministers have been briefed on the project, which is seen as of pivotal importance to the development of Ireland's transport infrastructure.
The project was welcomed by the Minister of State for Commerce, Science and Technology, Mr Pat Rabbitte, who said Irish Rail's involvement should provide the basis for the redevelopment and renewal of the Dublin railway infrastructure.
The Clonburris site is strategically located next to the Dublin-Cork railway line and convenient to the national road network, including the M50 "C-ring" motorway. It is currently zoned for open space and agriculture.
Since the scheme involves a "material contravention" of the county plan, three-quarters of the elected members of South Dublin County Council would have to vote in favour of it. The councillors are likely to be impressed both by the strategic importance of the project and its ability to deliver jobs in an area which is acknowledged as a major unemployment black spot.
Conceived by the estate agent, Mr Fintan Gunne, who assembled the site, the National Distribution Park is being planned by Mr Harry Dobson, a Scottish-born international businessman with diamond-mining interests in Canada.
