However, the establishment in 1999 of the Irish Marine Development Office has provided a strategic and cohesive forum for the strategic development of our ports infrastructure, and already this approach appears to be working. For example, the volume of freight carried by the Irish shipping industry continued to grow in the first half of 2007, according to a mid-year analysis of container traffic at Irish ports carried out by the IMDO. Ro/ro (roll-on/roll-off) traffic through all Irish ports has also experienced strong growth rates.

During the first half of 2007, traffic throughput at ports in the Republic grew by an average of 8%, while results show that the volume of containers handled in lo/lo (load-on/load-off) sector grew by 11%, compared to the same period last year. IMDO estimate that full year figures for Irish container traffic performance will see growth slightly ahead of last year's figures.

According to IMDA, the lo/lo sector in particular continues to be driven by the large volume of container imports from the Asian market, especially by imports from China, while IMDO estimates that exports volumes of laden lo/lo containers increased by 6%.

"This imbalance of empty containers being shipped back to Asia from Europe creates a very good opportunity for Irish firms to capitalise on the highly attractive sea freight rates being offered by the major carriers, " said Glenn Murphy, Director of the IMDO. "In short, there has never been a better time to ship goods to Asia by sea."

IMDO's analysis also shows that the ro/ro market provided 582 weekly services from Ireland to 14 ports in the UK and France by eight operators, providing 29 million lane metres of available capacity per week. The lo/lo market currently provides 85 sailings per week to 53 European ports and one port in North America by 17 independent operators. Rotterdam is the main destination, with 51 sailings from Ireland per week.

But what have also been of note are the improvements which have been made by individual ports around the island of Ireland, with a realisation that it is no longer acceptable for a leading economic island nation to have substandard port facilities Dublin Port Despite the mooted shift North to Balbriggan, Dublin Port has continued to invest in its infrastructure and hinterland. The opening of the Port Tunnel has created a shift in traffic patterns for the entire city, while the port itself has unveiled a number of new ships by significant operators in the Irish passenger market. And, in terms of freight,42% of all Irish exports now travel through Dublin Port.

Rosslare Europort Rosslare has continued to invest in its facilities, including a recent multi-million euro pier project. But, perhaps most ambitiously, it is beginning a feasibility study into deepening the port, having completed the design for a new link span for Berth 2.

These upgrades would allow the port to handle the new Humber max type ships, which are the largest ships which can navigate the mighty Humber River in the UK (home of some of Britain's largest ro/ro ports.

Rosslare has already revamped two of its four link spans, and the span for Berth 2 would represent the last piece in the refurbishment.

About 10 years ago, the whole port was deepened as part of an overall upgrading of facilities, and thanks to these sorts of developments, Rosslare has experienced 14% growth in freight over the past year, and about 8% growth in terms of passengers, with more than one million people passing through the port last year.

Belfast Given the infrastructural deficit in Irish ports, Belfast has taken it upon itself to become one of the leading destinations for freight for the island of Ireland. Already it handles 20% of the seaborne freight for the Republic of Ireland, in addition to 60% of Northern Ireland's port-bound freight. But its strategy for the future could see these percentages rise even further.

As part of a new strategy, Port of Belfast plans to reclaim 120 acres of land from Belfast Lough at a cost of �630m (about 1 billion) to accommodate economic growth.

This has come on the back of an economic report which was published by London-based CEBR consultancy, detailing the scale of the Port's contribution to the Northern Ireland economy. The study forecasts that, come 2025, the Port will need to invest heavily to cater for a doubling of traffic if Northern Ireland is to match economic activity in the rest of the UK.

Already work has begin on improving facilities, including the �35 million upgrading of the Terminal Four Building.

Highlights of the report include the fact that Port activities directly and indirectly support 187,000 jobs (27% of Northern Ireland's entire workforce) and 31% of the region's total economic value (�19.5 billion).