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Planning permission has been granted to transform the former ferry passenger terminal on St Michael’s Pier into a digital technology hub.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council will invest €20 million to transform the pier into the Harbour Innovation Campus which will support up to 1,000 jobs.

At more than 7,000 sqm, the Harbour Innovation Campus will be the largest technology hub in Ireland and one of the top five in Europe.

The outside will remain unchanged but inside, leading global companies will innovate and collaborate with start-ups, SMEs, academic institutions and state enterprise agencies to develop and apply advances in technology.

The ferry terminal has lain empty since sailings were discontinued in 2015 and the development has been welcomed by business and political leaders.

The Harbour Innovation Campus is 100% funded by private investment and will deliver revenue of almost €15m in rent and rates over the next 10 years.

While the employment created will result in an estimated additional spend of around €6m each year on local businesses in the town.

The internal fit out of the building is expected to start next month, and it will be ready to open in Spring 2019.

Philip Gannon, the founder, CEO and private investor behind the project, said: “We have received overwhelming support from local residents and businesses who all understand the huge benefits that this project will bring to the area.

"This culturally significant building has been lying empty for over four years and is quickly falling into a state of dereliction and decay.

"A place where people used to go to emigrate will now become world-class innovation space that will showcase Ireland’s capabilities in technology, create employment and bring social and economic prosperity not only to Dún Laoghaire and the surrounding areas, but the country as a whole."

Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen TD, said: “I am pleased with the news from the Harbour Innovation Campus on the creation of a new Digital Innovation Hub.

"The type of co-operation between large multinationals, SMEs and academics that occurs in these hubs can generate exciting opportunities.

"I am also excited about the prospects that the Harbour Innovation Campus offers for the local economy in Dún Laoghaire, the potential for national growth that a project of this size represents and the ambitions of the Harbour Innovation Campus to establish satellite hubs around the country.

"This will provide important opportunities for our regions to benefit from growth in the digital arena.

"Finally, I would like to say that the aspirations of the Harbour Innovation Campus very much reflect the Government’s own desire to reap the benefits of digitalisation for the whole of Ireland and to play a significant part in digitilisation within Europe.”