A key component is the construction of a new deep-water container trans-shipment terminal at Ballylongford, County Kerry, at an estimated cost of ?250m.

The terminal is expected to capitalise on the acute congestion at existing European container ports such as Rotterdam, Antwerp and Bremerhaven.

The port company has already approached a number of major international industry players to co-partner the investment.

Another highlight will be the commercial redevelopment of land within Limerick City's Docklands. This initiative will cover a 250 acre site, with 44 acres of dock facilities, right in the heart of Limerick City.

This development will be phased over a number of years so the capacity of the working docks will not be impaired, and will include residential, commercial, hotel and other projects.

Some 3m will be invested in Foynes Harbour to establish an extra 400m of jetties, open quay storage, new warehousing, container storage yards and capital investment in additional cargo handling equipment.

A major overhaul and upgrading of the Shannon Airport oil jetty is also expected plus a new ferry service across the Shannon for large container trucks, and a new container liner service between Rotterdam and the Shannon Estuary is due later this year.

The Chairman of Shannon Foynes Port Company, Mr Kieran MacSweeney, said the company's Strategic Plan represented a 'historic opportunity' to address the long-standing infrastructural problems in the West of Ireland.

'We are satisfied about the economic foundations of our proposals, the bulk of which we will finance from the proceeds of the Limerick Docklands Initiative, together with organically generated profits.

Our thinking is in harmony with the Government's Enterprise Development Policy, and we must now set about making our plan a political imperative, ' he said.

The Limerick Docklands Initiative is a consortium formed by the Port Company, Shannon Development and Limerick City Council to examine the redevelopment potential of a 250-acre site, with the 44 acres of dock facilities at its centre, right in the heart of Limerick City.

The development will be phased over a number of years so that the capacity of the working Docks will not be impaired over the short to medium term at least.

The Docklands Initiative is expected to include residential, commercial, hotel and other projects. A team of leading consultants is now in the process of completing outline proposals that will be considered in detail by the three partners in the coming months.