The number of ships docking at ports around the country continued to fall in the first half of the year, new figures revealed today.
But the latest figures from the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) show the rate of decline had eased.
The IMDO said that following a peak in traffic through Irish ports in 2007, a steady decline took place as the global downturn began.
In the first half of this year, lift-on/lift-off traffic fell almost a quarter on the same period in 2008 while, roll on/roll off ferry traffic fell 13 per cent, with 753,845 freight units handled at all Irish ports compared to 869,146 for the first six months of last year.
However, it is believed the volume of traffic bottomed out in February this year with a 4 per cent increase seen during May and June.
The latest figures also show that the fall off in consumer demand led to a 30 per cent drop in the amount of container traffic importing goods.