Dun Laoghaire harbour is to be redeveloped as a major public amenity with a number of key sites being refurbished to create a "thriving commercial and leisure facility".

Following the recent controversy over public access to the new marina, the Harbour Company is keen to emphasise that the proposed redevelopments, including that of the former ferry terminal at Carlisle Pier, are to enhance public use of the facilities.

The projects, some of which have gone as far as the detailed design stage, must also "be able to wash their face financially," according to the harbour manager, Mr Michael Hanahoe. Mr Hanahoe said that a firm of architects had already been retained to draw up proposals for the redevelopment of the Carlisle Pier.

He had also received a number of proposals from the private sector for redevelopment, and the company would consider a partnership with the private sector to enhance the harbour.

The new harbour would include a number of marine facilities and a leisure and retail element all focused around the marina. A number of the proposals have included restaurants with waterside seating, marinethemed boutiques and equipment suppliers to service the marina.

At more than two acres, the Carlisle pier alone would represent a significant development opportunity, particularly given that three sides front on to the water and that it is opposite the new Pavilion apartment complex.

Despite public criticism of the new marina from the Coal Harbour Users Group, Mr Hanahoe maintains that public access to the harbour will be improved by the addition of the marina.

Mr Hanahoe used the occasion of last week's meeting of the board of the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company to assure members that the new marina would remain open to the public. Because of the provision of new piers within the harbour, members of the general public would for the first time be able to access the centre of the harbour.

At the meeting a letter was also read out from the Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahy, detailing requirements that the old coal harbour and its boatyard and slip remain accessible to the public. The Coal Harbour Users Group had objected to management of the yard and slip passing to the company running the marina, but Mr Hanahoe said the position of public accessibility was guaranteed.

He also vowed that the charges for boatyard users at £45 per season would stay for the coming year and that there would not be unreasonable increases after that.

One of the members of the Harbour Board, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown county councillor Betty Coffey, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, said after the meeting that she was pleased with the reassurances which had been given.

"There is a perception that public usage and access to the harbour was to be curtailed but that was because we were losing the media battle in getting the message across. Now Mr Hanahoe has laid it on the line and we have the letter of guarantee from the Department. I am hopeful that everyone can now come together to improve the public usage of facilities at the harbour."

Mrs Coffey said that the redevelopment of the main harbour yard was being considered along with the redevelopment of Carlisle Pier. She said that the board had visited other harbours to see how facilities could be developed, and that a number of approaches had been received from private property developers expressing an interest in partnership development.

Mr Hanahoe stressed that any development would have to be sympathetic to the Victorian harbour, once the largest man made harbour in the world. Materials used and the design approved would have to be extremely high in quality, he said.

The harbour company is also about to commission a study into access to the harbour, including the port area and the new marina. It is concerned about both short and long-term access; the issue is seen as critical for the future viability of the port.

"Dublin Port has the prospect of the Eastern By-Pass and the Dublin Port Tunnel which would be very important to freight traffic, allowing it to exit from the port straight into the motorway network. We would be concerned that we would, as a result, lose traffic to Dublin because of that."