Freight moving through Dublin Port rebounded by 14% to 8.9 million tonnes in the first quarter of the year, following a sharp decline in trade due to Brexit in the same quarter last year.
New border controls on trade between Britain and Ireland were introduced in January 2021 after the UK left the European Union which resulted in a 15% drop in freight volumes between both countries in the first quarter.
The increase in this year's figures was driven by a 23% jump to 192,000 freight units on services to Holyhead, Liverpool and Heysham.
Dublin Port's chief executive Eamonn O'Reilly said that trade is still 18% below pre-Brexit levels but he is hopeful it will continue to recover.
The drop in trade with Britain has been offset by increased trade with the rest of Europe. Freight volumes increased by 1.8% to 152,000 units on ships travelling to and from ports from Cherbourg to Rotterdam in the first quarter.
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Imports grew by +14.2% to 5.4 million tonnes in the first qauarter.
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Exports also grew, by 12.8% to 3.5 million tonnes
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"Roll-on, roll-off" volumes grew by 23% to 250,000, while there was a decrease of 3.5% to 112,000 units on "lift-on, lift-off" container volumes at the port.
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Mr O'Reilly said trade at the port has not been impacted by Russia's war in Ukraine, though it has seen a return to pre-pandemic record levels of 2019 with growth of 20% to 1.1 million tonnes, which he said emphasised Dublin Port's importance as a national energy hub.
A large capital investment programme is underway at Dublin Port which will be impacted by inflation.
"The level of growth we are now seeing at the start of 2022 suggests that record throughput levels will again be seen by 2023 or 2024," Mr O'Reilly said. "This growth maintains the pressure on us to continue to deliver our large capital programme at pace.
"This will not be easy against the background of high inflation which is particularly evident in the construction sector," the Dublin Port CEO added.
