A new report has recommended that trade and commercial businesses operating in Limerick's docklands should relocated to nearby Foynes.

The report, designed to indicate the possible future of the port, says the area has fallen short of forecasts, and despite the years of the Celtic tiger, no major new customer has come to use it.

This, according to the report, will have serious implications in any decision to invest in new infrastructure there.

The report suggests the future of the Limerick docks may be secured through a mixed-use development, involving leisure and residential investment plans, as well as significant business development.

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A port representative, Liam Woulfe, said users will have to be convinced that a move to Foynes will be economically and financially viable for them.

Meanwhile, an Irish private equity and property investment firm has secured its stake in the €600m construction of the World's first indoor winter sports venue.

First Equity has confirmed that Onslow Suffolk Limited, a consortium in which the group and its investors hold a 70% stake, has received significant support from the UK Government for a mixed-use residential, leisure and commercial development outside Ipswich, UK.

The development, known as SnOasis, will enjoy the status of being the World's first indoor winter sports resort and will have a gross development value of €600m.

SnOasis will be developed on a around 360 acre site and comprise an iconic sports complex, 350 ski lodges, a four-star hotel and conference centre, an athlete's village and the facilities to house many other sporting activities.

(PR/JM)