#BelfastLough - Recording record trade levels, Belfast Harbour reached 23.7 million tonnes passing through the port in 2017.

The port writes The Irish News, handles more than 70 per cent of the north's seaborne trade, has seen a 3 per cent increase in its trade volume on 2016 in spite of the low level of growth in the local economy.

Significant and strategic investments by the port and its customers as well as the relative weakness in sterling on exports are described as key reasons behind the positive figures.

Freight traffic on StenaLine’s Ro-Ro (Roll-on / Roll-off) services continues to grow, reaching a record 514,000 vehicles, with external demand for Northern Ireland’s agri-food produce a key driver for the increase. Linked to this, demand for animal feeds and grains rose by 11 per cent to 2.2 million tonnes.

To read more on other sectors of the port click here. 

#Rowing: Here is the 2017 Calendar for Irish Rowers. The year ahead is a bumper one. In February, the Fisa Extraordinary Congress in Tokyo will be the focus of intense interest, as a decision will be made on the boats which can compete at the Olympic Games. Lightweight athletes in Ireland and other countries will watch this closely. The international season will be a very long one as the World Championships will be held very late (September/October) in Florida in the United States. The domestic regatta season starts with Neptune Regatta on April 1^st and the high point is the Irish Championships, which run from July 14^th to July 16^th. Queen’s University have decided to abandon plans to hold their regatta, which was scheduled for May 6^th.

 Our good wishes to all involved in rowing this year, whether behind the scenes or on the water.

Rowing Fixtures 2017

January

21^st: Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, Limerick.

26^th-28^th: World Coaches Conference, Vancouver, Canada.

February

4^th: European Indoor Rowing Championships, Paris.

9^th-12^th: Fisa Extraordinary Congress, Tokyo.

11^th: Cork Head, Marina.

18^th: Lagan Scullers’ Head, Belfast; New Ross Head, River Barrow.

18^th-19^th: Ireland high performance Assesment, Regional.

25^th: St Michael’s Head, O’Brien’s Bridge, Clare. 

March

4^th: Erne Head, Enniskillen, Fermanagh. 11^th: Women’s Eights’ Head of the River, London. 18^th Galway Head; Lagan Head, Belfast.

25^th: Dublin Head; Offaly Head, Tullamore.

25^th: Head of the River, London.

25^th-26^th: Ireland high performance Assessment, National Rowing Centre (NRC), Cork.

26^th: Rowing Ireland agm.

April

1^st: Neptune Regatta, Islandbridge. 2^nd: Commercial Regatta, Islandbridge. 2^nd: The Boat Races, London.

7^th: Irish University Championships, NRC.

8^th-9^th: Skibbereen Regatta, NRC.

15^th: Trinity Regatta, Islandbridge, Dublin.

22^nd: Limerick Regatta, O’Brien’s Bridge, Clare.

23^rd: Irish Schools’ Regatta, O’Brien’s Bridge.

29^th: Portadown Regatta.

29^th (to May 1^st): BUCS Regatta, Nottingham, England.

May

1^st (from April 29^th): BUCS Regatta, Nottingham, England. 5^th-7^th: World Cup Regatta, Belgrade, Serbia.

7^th: Castleconnell Sprint Regatta.

13^th: Lough Rynn Regatta, Leitrim.

13^th-14^th: Fisa Para Rowing Regatta, Gavirate, Italy.

20^th: Lee Regatta, Marina, Cork.

20^th-21^st: European Junior Championships, Krefeld, Germany.

26^th-28^th: European Championships, Racice, Czech Republic.

26^th-28^th: British National Schools’ Regatta, Dorney Lake.

27^th: Dublin Metropolitan Regatta, Blessington; Belfast Sprint Regatta.

June

3^rd-4^th: Carlow Regatta. 3^rd-4^th: (London) Metropolitan Regatta.

10^th-11^th: Ireland high performance Assessment, NRC.

15^th-18^th: World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland. 16^th-18^th: Henley Women’s Regatta. 17^th: Athlone Regatta, Coosan Point. 17^th: Marlow Regatta, Dorney Lake. 18^th: Galway Regatta.

24^th-25^th: Cork Regatta, NRC.

28^th (to July 2^nd): Henley Royal Regatta.

July

1^st-2^nd (from June 28^th): Henley Royal Regatta. 1^st: Ulster Branch Regatta, Craigavon Lakes, 2^nd: Fermoy Sprint Regatta.

7^th-9^th: World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Switzerland.

14^th-16^th: Irish Rowing Championships, NRC.

19^th-23^rd: Under-23 World Championships, Plovdiv.

22^nd: Home International Regatta, London Docklands, England.

29^th -30^th: Coupe de la Jeunesse, Hazewinkel, Belgium.

August

2^nd-6^th: World Junior Championships, Trakai, Lithuania. 6^th: Carrick-on-Shannon Sprint Regatta.

18^th-20^th: Irish Coastal Rowing Championships, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.

26^th: Belfast Summer Sprint Regatta.

September

2^nd-3^rd: European Under-23 Championships, Kruszwica, Poland.

6^th-1oth: World Masters, Bled, Slovenia. 16^th: St Michael’s Masters Regatta, Limerick.

24^th (to October 1^st): World Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida­.

October

1^st (from September 24^th): World Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida.

7^th Tullamore Time Trial. 7^th-8^th: Ireland high performance Assessment, NRC.

13^th-15^th: World Coastal Rowing Championships, Thonon, France.

21^st-22^nd: Head of the Charles River, Boston.

28^th: Castleconnell Head, Castleconnell.  

November

4^th: Neptune Head, Blessington.

11^th: Bann Head, Coleraine. 12^th: Fours Head, London.

18^th: Skibbereen Head, NRC.

25^th: Provinces Indoor Rowing Championships, Limerick.

December

2^nd: Head of the Shannon, Carrick-on-Shannon; Muckross Head, NRC.

16^th-17^th: Ireland high performance Assessments, NRC.