An ad hoc Northern Ireland Assembly committee has announced that the Port of Belfast is to be floated on the stock market, although the 2,000 acres of surrounding land are to be retained under public ownership. The committee's recommendations are seen as something of a "halfway house", as the British government had proposed floating the entire business of the port - with an estimated value of around £200 million - while retaining only a "golden share" to guarantee public interest.

But Assembly members were said to be anxious about a private takeover of the port which would lead to "excessive profits" for a private firm with the public losing out, according to one source.

When Belfast Airport was sold to its management for £34.75 million sterling in 1994, it was resold two years later to TBI, the airports group, for about £100 million.

Under the current proposal, the government would retain a 40 per cent share in the port facilities.

Some of the money raised by the partial flotation will go towards upgrading the North's roads network and modernising the harbour.

A statement by the Belfast Harbour Commissioners said they had not yet received the committee's recommendations but were "encouraged" by media reports that the proposals included a public-private partnership for the port.