There is an answer... Download Opera 19 Developer then under the 'More tools' drop down menu synchronize your previous bookmarks bar into Opera. It takes a while, but it's worth it.
One annoying fault that you will notice is that your bookmark icons will disappear. to fix this, left click on the folders within the newly created bookmarks bar and click on Open All. Again it takes a while, but once done, KERRCHING Opera is back to the great browser it used to be in Opera 12.
I will never understand the reasoning behind Opera's decision to scrap bookmarks. Speed Dial is farcical when you have more than say 20 bookmarks!