According to new Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures, Irish Ports handled a total of 46.4 million metric tons of goods last year.

This figure was a fall of 13% in 2022, according to the CSO’s Statistics of Port Traffic Q4 and Year 2023, which was released today.

The CSO said goods forwarded from Irish ports amounted to 15.2 million metric tons in 2023, while a total of 31.2 million metric tons of goods were received.

During the year, a total of 12,105 vessels arrived in Irish ports, which is a decrease from the figure of 12,447 that took place in 2022.

Another key finding showed Dublin Port accounted for 59% of all vessels arriving in Irish ports in 2023.

The main ports are Bantry, Cork, Shannon in Munster, Drogheda, Dublin, Rosslare, and Waterford in Leinster.

The figures also highlight that Northern Ireland and Britain accounted for 37% of the total tonnage of goods handled in the main ports by region of trade in 2023.

Whereas EU countries accounted for 43% of the total tonnage of goods handled.

More RTE News reports on the port statistics.

In the third quarter of last year, Irish Ports handled tonnes of goods which increased by 4% compared with the same period the year before, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) data.

Of the seven main ports, some 3,202 vessels arrived, however there was a decrease of 3% when compared with Q3 2021. As for the country's biggest port, Dublin Port  accounted for 62% of all vessel arrivals.

Irish ports which saw goods forwarded totalled 4.1 million tonnes in Q3 2022, while goods received amounted to 8.2 million tonnes.

Dr Nele van der Wielen a statistican at the CEO said: “Irish ports handled 12.3 million tonnes of goods in July, August and September. This is an increase of 4% compared with the third quarter of 2021 and a decrease of 6% when compared with the previous quarter.

The Irish Times has more and to consult the CSO's 'Statistics of Port Traffic Quarter 3, 2022' click here.

Among the findings was that the tonnage of goods handled decreased in four of the five traffic categories in Q3 2022, when there was a quarterly percentage increase in roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) traffic (1%).

On Carlingford Lough is Greenore Port which has seen a 31% increase in the number of vessels arriving to the port between 2019 and 2021, with the gross tonnage increasing by a quarter, according to the latest Central Statistics Office figures.

The north Co. Louth port saw 173 arrivals to the port in 2021, up from 134 in 2020 and 132 in 2019.

Arrivals of Dry Bulk vessels increased by from 79 in 2019, to 97 in 2020, and 121 in 2021, representing an increase of 53% since 2019. In terms of gross tonnage, there was an increase of 254,000 tonnes or 28% since 2019.

More from the Dundalk Democrat on the CSO figures. 

Afloat adds Greenore Port is unique as it is the only privately owned port in Ireland and which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Doyle Shipping Group.

The port is also the Republic’s only deep-water port outside of Dublin Port and located on the east coast of Ireland and can cater for part-laden vessels of up to 60,000dwt.

Ferry passenger numbers travelling through Irish ports fell by 88.3% during the height of the Covid-19 lockdown earlier this year.

According to the Central Statistics Office's Statistics of Port Traffic published yesterday, 88,000 people travelled through Irish ports in the three months from April to June compared to 755,000 in the same period last year.

Dublin Port remains the main port for passengers, accounting for 96.6% of all journeys. Holyhead remains the main destination and source of passenger travel into and out of the country.

The CSO also noted a falloff in the gross tonnage of goods brought through our ports but this was not as dramatic.

RTE News has more here. 

Ferry and airline passenger figures from the Central Statistics Office today show a huge fall in overseas travel to and from Ireland in March as Covid-19 restrictions started to be imposed.

The CSO said there were 635,000 arrivals into Ireland and 602,100 departures from the country in March.

This compared with monthly travel of more than 1.4 million in each direction in March last year and the figures marked a 56.7% drop in arrival figures and a 58.1% fall in departure figures.

CSO figures showed that of the 635,000 people arriving in Ireland in March, 95.1% arrived by air and 4.9% arrived by sea.

Of the 602,100 people leaving Ireland, 95.6% departed by air and 4.4% left by sea.

Today's figures are contained in the CSO's new monthly release on Air and Sea Travel Statistics.

For more from RTE News and passenger statistics for cross-channel routes (mostly to the UK) and those to mainland Europe click here.

Afloat adds ferries are operating out of Dublin Port and Rosslare Europort though there are currently no services running out of the Port of Cork.

As previously reported, following advise from governments in March Brittany Ferries were forced to temporarily suspend passenger services including their Irish operations. However from June services are due to resume even though the Government’s phased exit from lockdown means people will be unable to travel until the second half of July.