Dublin Port must 'move now' to open up a vast new space in the city centre, the head of the Docklands Business Forum has said.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Alan Robinson said the area around the port could become the next Docklands - bringing thousands of new homes to the city.
He was speaking after former Dublin Port chief Eamon O'Reilly claimed calls to move the port for housing were 'nonsensical'.
Mr Robinson said he completely disagrees.
"The Port should move and it should move now," he said.
"Look at the Dublin Docklands and what has been achieved there.
"In 1997, when they passed the Docklands Development Authority Bill, the nay-sayers were saying the exact same thing.
"They were saying the Docklands is a deeply contaminated area, it has acres and acres of clay that would have to be cleaned and shovelled out, transported to the UK then sent back here because of EU pollution regulations.
"That's exactly what they did... and for less than €5bn, we have a whole new area of the city.
"The idea that you could not do the same with Dublin Port is absolute nonsense".
'We have to think big'
Mr Robinson said the current area of Dublin Port is "the combined space of Sandymount, Ranelagh and Harold's Cross".
"If we're going to solve the housing crisis, we have to think big.
"We need an area of land, adjacent to the city, that's going to provide the capacity to deliver on the housing the country needs.
"There are only three areas around Dublin City that could provide that.
"One is Dublin Port, the other is the farmland in Fingal, and the third is the green belt surrounding the city in the immediate counties around Dublin."
'They will run out of space'
Out of the three options, Dublin Port is the only area that is serviced and within the city, Mr Robinson said.
"[The Dublin Port Company] admitted in their own proposals that they will run out of space... sometime between 2030 and 2040.
"Regardless of what Eamon [O'Reilly] or anybody else says, the Port has admitted they're going to have to move and seek other port infrastureutre," he added.
Mr Robinson added that Dublin Port has no rail infrastructure, meaning the only way it can expand "is trucks."
Property developer Harry Crosbie has previously suggested moving the port to Portlaoise to free up hundreds of acres.
