Editing Transport in Ireland (section)

==Ports and harbours==
{{Main|List of ports in Ireland}}{{More citations needed section|date=December 2024}}
Ireland has major ports in [[Dublin Port|Dublin]], [[Port of Belfast|Belfast]], [[Cork Harbour|Cork]], [[Rosslare Europort|Rosslare]], [[Foyle Port|Derry]] and [[Port of Waterford|Waterford]]. Smaller ports exist in Arklow, Ballina, Drogheda, Dundalk, Dún Laoghaire, Foynes, Galway, Larne, Limerick, New Ross, Sligo, Warrenpoint and Wicklow.

Ports in the Republic of Ireland handled 2.8 million travellers crossing [[Irish Sea|the sea between Ireland and Great Britain]] in 2014, a decrease of 1 million passengers movements since 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statista.com/statistics/315757/sea-travel-between-the-uk-and-ireland/ |title=Number of sea travel passenger movements between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2014 (in 1,000 passenger movements) |publisher=The Statistics Portal |year=2014 |access-date=18 February 2015 |archive-date=20 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420022631/http://www.statista.com/statistics/315757/sea-travel-between-the-uk-and-ireland/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This has been steadily dropping for a number of years (20% since 1999), probably as a result of [[Low-cost carrier|low cost airlines]].

=== Ferries ===
Ferry connections between [[Great Britain|Britain]] and Ireland via the Irish Sea include the routes from [[Fishguard]] and [[Pembroke, Pembrokeshire|Pembroke]] to Rosslare, and [[Cairnryan]] to Larne. The [[Stranraer]] to Belfast and Larne routes and the [[Swansea]] to Cork route have closed. There is also a connection between [[Liverpool]] and Belfast via the [[Isle of Man]]. The world's largest car ferry, ''[[MV Ulysses|Ulysses]]'', is operated by [[Irish Continental|Irish Ferries]] on the Dublin–Holyhead route.

In addition, there are ferries from Rosslare and Dublin to Cherbourg and Roscoff in France.

The vast majority of heavy goods trade is done by sea. Northern Irish ports handle 10 megatonnes (Mt) of goods trade with Britain annually, while ports in the Republic handle 7.6 Mt, representing 50% and 40% respectively of total trade by weight.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Ferry services from Ireland
!Name
!From
!To
!Operator
!Website
!Seasonal?
!Type
|-
|Scenic Lough Foyle Ferry
|[[Greencastle, County Donegal|Greencastle]], County Donegal
|[[Magilligan Point]], County Londonderry
|Frazer Foyle Holdings
|[https://loughfoyleferry.com/ loughfoyleferry.com]
|Summer only
|Passenger (foot, vehicle)
|-
|Kintyre Express
|[[Ballycastle, County Antrim|Ballycastle]]
|[[Port Ellen]], Scotland
|[[West Coast Motors|Craig of Campbeltown]]
|[https://kintyreexpress.com/ kintyreexpress.com]
|Summer only
|Passenger (foot only)
|-
|Rathlin Island Ferry
|[[Ballycastle, County Antrim|Ballycastle]]
|[[Rathlin Island]]
|Dunaverty
|[https://www.rathlin-ferry.com/ www.rathlin-ferry.com]
|All year
|Passenger (foot, vehicle)
|-
|Kintyre Express
|[[Ballycastle, County Antrim|Ballycastle]]
|[[Campbeltown]], Scotland
|[[West Coast Motors|Craig of Campbeltown]]
|[https://kintyreexpress.com/ kintyreexpress.com]
|Summer only
|Passenger (foot only)
|-
|P&O Larne - Cairnryan
|[[Larne]]
|[[Cairnryan Harbour|Cairnryan]], Scotland
|[[P&O]]
|[https://www.poferries.com/en/routes/cairnryan-to-larne www.poferries.com]
|All year
|Passenger (foot, vehicle); freight
|-
|Stena Belfast - Cairnryan
|[[Belfast Harbour|Belfast]]
|[[Cairnryan Harbour|Cairnryan]], Scotland
|[[Stena Line]]
|[https://www.stenaline.co.uk/routes/cairnryan-belfast www.stenaline.co.uk]
|All year
|Passenger (foot, vehicle); freight
|-
|Isle of Man Steam Packet
|[[Belfast Harbour|Belfast]]
|[[Douglas, Isle of Man]]
|[[Isle of Man Steam Packet Company]]
|[https://www.steam-packet.com/ www.steam-packet.com]
|All year
|Passenger (foot, vehicle)
|-
|Stena Belfast - Heysham
|[[Belfast Harbour|Belfast]]
|[[Heysham Port|Heysham]], England
|[[Stena Line]]
|[https://www.stenaline.com/about-us/route-network/belfast-heysham/ www.stenaline.com]
|All year
|Freight
|-
|Stena Belfast - Liverpool
|[[Belfast Harbour|Belfast]]
|[[Liverpool]], England
|[[Stena Line]]
|[https://www.stenaline.co.uk/routes/liverpool-belfast www.stenaline.co.uk]
|All year
|Passenger (foot, vehicle); freight
|-
|[[Portaferry–Strangford ferry|Strangford Ferry]]
|[[Strangford]]
|[[Portaferry]]
|[[Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)|Dept for Infrastructure NI]]
|[https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/strangford-ferry-timetable www.nidirect.gov.uk]
|All year
|Passenger (vehicle, foot)
|-
|Omeath Ferry
|[[Warrenpoint]], 
|[[Omeath]], County Louth
|
|
|Summer only
|Passenger (foot)
|-
|Carlingford Lough Ferry
|[[Greencastle, County Down|Greencastle]], County Down
|[[Greenore]], County Louth
|Rooskey Frazer & Co
|[https://carlingfordferry.com/ carlingfordferry.com]
|All year
|Passenger (vehicle, foot)
|-
|Seatruck
|[[Warrenpoint]]
|[[Heysham Port|Heysham]]
|[[Seatruck Ferries|Seatruck]]
|[https://www.seatruckferries.com/routes/warrenpoint www.seatruckferries.com/r]
|All year
|Freight
|}

===Mercantile Marine{{#tag:ref|In Ireland it is the "Mercantile Marine"; in the United Kingdom it is the "Merchant Navy"; in the USA it is the "Merchant Marine".|group=note}}===
;'''Total''' – 35 ships (with a volume of {{GT|1,000|disp=long}} or over) totalling {{GT|288,401}}/{{DWT|383,628|metric|disp=long}}
:''Ships by type'' – [[bulk carrier]] 7, [[cargo ship]] 22, [[chemical tanker]] 1, [[container ship]] 3, [[roll-on/roll-off]] ship 1, short-sea passenger 1
:''Foreign-owned'' – Germany 3, Italy 7, [[Norway]] 2
:''Registered in other countries'' – 18 (2003 est.)