Cork, Ireland  - The view upstream from the Tivoli shipping container terminal in the southern Irish city of Cork shows the River Lee cutting through the centre of the port city.

A few kilometres downstream, the river winds through idyllic landscape, before flowing into Cork harbour, regarded as the second- largest natural harbour after Sydney in Australia.

Here, cargo and other ships find protection from the rough Celtic Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The Port of Cork operates along the river at Tivoli, with its 155- metre landing stage and towering cranes, and around Cork harbour, leaving enough space for nature and watersport lovers.

The idyllic scene is now set to be disturbed as Cork's port authorities are determined to forge ahead with controversial plans for a 226-million-euro (351-million-dollar) expansion of the harbour at nearby Ringaskiddy by the end of 2012.

"The terminal in Tivoli is now full. If Cork's economy wants to expand further, the port has to expand," Port of Cork Commercial Manager Michael McCarthy told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa about the planned port expansion, which is due to be decided on June 3.

Under the proposal, the Tivoli terminal - which ran close to its full capacity in 2006 with a load equivalent to 185,000 containers of 20-foot length each - is to be closed after the completion of a new deepwater container terminal at Ringaskiddy.

According to the European Union, an additional 4.7 million tonnes of goods could be moved per year between Ireland's south coast and the north of Spain and Portugal.

A larger facility could bring Cork in line with a European initiative under which shipping routes provide an alternative to land routes for the transport of goods.

Port of Cork officials stress that Ireland's second-largest city is ideal for the location of a regional and international marine transport hub. "Cork is Ireland's closest point to continental Europe," said McCarthy.

However, not everyone in the region is convinced that the proposal for a new deepwater port has been thought out carefully enough to make it a success.

At recent public hearings, the plan was shot down as "unwarranted" by port officials from a neighbouring county as well as members of the public.

Officials from the Port of Waterford, about 120 kilometres east of Cork harbour, urged planning authorities to abandon what they called an "ill-conceived" and "unsustainable" project, arguing that Ireland already has ample port capacity, the Irish Examiner reported.

Residents from Ringaskiddy and other villages near the proposed site, environmental activists, local sailors and fishermen also had strong opinions about the proposal.

"If this proposal is allowed to proceed it will destroy Cork Harbour as a leisure and tourism location forever," John Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Cork Harbour Environment Protection Association, told dpa.

He also said it would not help the existing transport infrastructure.

Chronic congestion already plagues the N28 between Ringaskiddy and Cork, which serves as main link to the national road network for freight trucks and commuters alike.

Residents near this national road, which mostly snakes through tiny villages, complain they suffer from noise and exhaust fumes.

Kate Darragh, 63, says, "Commuters and trucks use the little street that passes my home in peak-times as a shortcut from the N28."

The port authority says this problem could be alleviated by the fact that the new terminal would not be operational until the road is upgraded.

"We have the comitment of the government that the N28 will be upgraded by the end of 2012," says McCarthy.

The residents in the area are skeptical about such promises. "There is no money for an upgrade and I believe that they would operate the new terminal even without an upgrade of the N28, once they have spent so much money," Darragh told dpa.

"And even with an upgrade, the noise and pollution will not be reduced," she says.

The National Road Authority is expected to decide about financing the upgrade of the N28 in 2010, according to communications officer Caroline O'Brien.

In total 1.5 million tonnes of goods reach Ireland via the British land corridor, according to the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC).

"Take that off the road and put it on ships," McCarthy says, adding that transport on the sea was not only cheaper but also ecologically safer as it emits less carbon dioxide.

But the residents beg to differ: "Noise and dirt will not only come from more traffic, but also from the upload and offload of the ships," said Darragh. (dpa)