British and all-Ireland trade blossom despite protocol row, new CSO figures suggest

Containers in the Port of Cork in Ringaskiddy.

Exports and imports across the Irish Sea have increased and all-Ireland trade has blossomed, suggesting little fallout so far from the 17-month-old Brexit deal and the Northern Ireland Protocol, new CSO figures suggest.

They come at a time when political tensions between the European Union (EU) and London have again risen over the protocol that was struck to keep the North in both the European single market and the UK customs area.