Evaluation of the Ports, Past & Present Programme - Final report June 2023

Executive Summary
This is the final evaluation report for Ports, Past and Present, a multi-institutional project about the five Irish Sea ports of Dublin Port and Rosslare in Ireland and Fishguard, Holyhead and Pembroke Dock in Wales. It has been conducted by Wavehill on behalf of University College Cork, the commissioning body for the operation. Wavehill were commissioned in Spring 2021 to undertake this work.

About the project
Ports, Past and Present is a cross-border action between Higher Education Institutions in Wales and the Republic of Ireland. It has been funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Co-operation Programme, managed by the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO), under the Priority Axis 3: ‘Cultural & Natural Resources and Heritage’. The aim was to stimulate economic growth by utilising the assets, enhancing the natural and cultural environment and increasing the attractiveness of the coastal communities in the programme area as places to visit. A key focus was on supporting the diversification the tourism sector to increase visitor numbers to coastal communities and the ‘result indicator’ for the priority is the total number of overseas visitors to the coastal communities of the Programme area. The aim was to create a new joint and shared future for five port towns in the Irish Sea basin, based on a deeper understanding of their past. The ports are Rosslare, Dublin Port, Fishguard, Holyhead and Pembroke Dock. The operation started in May 2019 and runs until July 2023.