IF YOU want to take both the political and economic temperature of Ireland, the place to look at is the port of Rosslare. The trade statistics of the port strikingly reflect the major national developments of recent years.
In 1995, the year of ceasefire in the North, both passenger cars and coach traffic through the port reached record levels. Almost 1.43 million passengers used the port, compared to 948,000 ten years previously. More than 300,000 passenger cars were carried.
Last year, with the grim renewal of the IRA campaign, the figures dipped to 1.3 million passengers and 276,000 passenger cars - a salutary reminder of the inhibiting effects of political violence on tourism.
But the surging-rampage of the "Emerald Tiger" economy continued apace. This is well demonstrated by another set of figures - the traffic of cars through the port for the motor trade. The trade ear traffic leaped to a total of more than 41,000 vehicles in 1996, compared to under 30,000 in 1995 and 24,200 in 1994.
Rosslare, dubbed Ireland's Europort, is on a strong expansion curve which is having profound and multiple spin-off benefits for the south-east region and beyond.
And, with the introduction of a new high-speed, technically advanced ferry, some entirely new patterns of short-break tourism have developed, with particular impact on the hinterland of Rosslare. The crossing time of the Stena Sealynx is just 99 minutes, with five crossings daily.
"In the summer, people are now coming over from Wales in the morning to play golf, and returning in the evening," says Ms Mary Gallagher, commercial manager for Stena Line at the port. The day trip traffic of Irish people travelling the other way has also grown.
The port is a quiet success story for Iarnrod Eireann, which is the harbour's authority. From a turnover of around £6 million, it makes a profit of over £2 million. More than 200 people work in the port, where dredging for further expansion is in full swing.
The channels are being deepened to 7 1/2 metres to take the new superferries which have a draft of over six metres and to allow the multiple use of the shipping berths.
"The dredging will be completed by mid-summer, but in two weeks we'll be able to use all the berths" said the port manager, Mr Walter Morrissey, last week. The port authority has just completed a £19 million five-year capital development programme of port infrastructure, and is gearing up for a further phase to improve RO/RO handling and deepen the inner harbour.
On May 23rd the port will host a small ceremony to celebrate 50 years of continuous operation since it resumed services in 1947. It has never been closed by an industrial dispute.
The dredging which has boosted the port development has also brought side-benefits. Some 35 acres of reclaimed land has been created, and has allowed a small marina to be developed.
Three of the port's major shipping customers, Irish Ferries, Stena Line and P&O Pandoro are embarking on significant route expansion from Rosslare over the coming months.
In mid-June, Stena's huge ro/ro superferry, MV Konigen Beatrix, will join Irish Ferries' £60 million superferry, MV Isle of Innisfree, in serving the port. The two ships will have the capacity to cater for 3,750 passengers, 1,150 passenger cars and 193 freight units each time they sail between Ireland and Wales.
The exploitation of their full potential to expand British-Irish tourism depends heavily on political and security developments in the Northern situation, to which the British market, naturally, is highly sensitive. Ms Gallagher points out that in 1995, Stena's traffic grew by 20 per cent.
But the sustained investment has already generated a steady growth pattern, and the results can be seen throughout south Co Wexford. New restaurants are springing up, hotels are heavily booked and bed-and-breakfast establishments are everywhere.
An important aspect of the port development has been its emphasis on access for disabled: the terminal building has already won major national and international awards for these facilities.
Freight is a major revenue earner. "We have a rate for every item, from coffins up to articulated trucks," Mr Morrissey said.
EU Cohesion and European Regional Development Funding programmes are continuing to grant aid the steady development of Rosslare.
The port, which has facilitated the operation of a ferry service from Britain since the middle of the last century, has grown into a trading centre which is an engine of downstream development and growth throughout the south-east- region and beyond.