The total was split between 21.71mt of imports (-5% year-on-year) and 15.15mt of exports (-0.9% yoy).

"In the first half of 2020, Dublin Port's cargo volumes were weak and were hit particularly badly in April and May because of the pandemic. However, in the second half of the year, volumes strengthened from month to month and we finished the year with extraordinary Brexit-driven growth of 21.7% in December. This is normally a quiet month, but December 2020 ended up being the fifth busiest month ever," Eamonn O'Reilly, Chief Executive, Dublin Port, commented on the results.

He furthered, "Against the background of so much Brexit stockpiling, both on the import side and on the export side, the slow start we are seeing in 2021 was inevitable. The gradual return to more normal volumes gives an opportunity for cargo owners to adapt to the re-introduction of non-tariff barriers to trade with Great Britain 28 years after the Single Market did away with them."