New Central Statistics Office figures show that the number of vessels arriving in Irish ports last year rose by 7% on 2020 levels.

The gross tonnage of all arriving vessels in 2021 also increased by 7%, the CSO said.

Irish ports handled nearly 54 million tonnes of goods in 2021, an increase of 5% compared with 2020.

The CSO said that goods forwarded from Irish ports amounted to 17.4 million tonnes in 2021, while a total of 36.5 million tonnes of goods were received.

Today's CSO figures also show that over one million passengers passed through Irish ports last year, a jump of 25% compared with 2020.

More RTE News has to report on the port statistics.