Bigger port vital to development of new business

Date Published: 10-Jul-2009

TONNAGE handled by Galway Harbour is down 10% on last year but the company say they are faring a lot better than other Irish ports.

The volume of business has been slowly decreasing inrecent years and since 2006 the number of ships using the Galway port has dropped from 313 to 252 last year.

The economic downturn, especially the halt to the public road network project nationally, has been partly to blame for the decrease in the steel and scrap metal tonnage handled at Galway Port.

Oil continues to be the port’s biggest business, but even that is threatened unless a new and bigger port that can handle bigger ships is built, according…