Dozens of Irish lorry drivers are at grave risk of being stranded in British ports on Christmas Day unless ferry companies and UK port authorities “radically improve their performance and take the current shipping Irish Sea supply chain problems far more seriously,” the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has warned.
The association also called on shipping companies that cross the Irish Sea and the ports that they service to work over Christmas Day. It said on Saturday that “further delays will inevitably happen” because of stormy conditions in the days ahead and also “because of the accident suffered by the Isle of Inishfree ferry in Fishguard yesterday”.
The ferry’s 5.30pm departure on Friday was delayed as a result of what Irish Ferries described as “a technical issue which arose on the ship’s arrival into the port”.
It subsequently emerged that the hull of the ship had suffered damage as it docked and emergency repairs were carried. out.
The shipping and ferry crisis began early this month when Holyhead Port was forced to close following Storm Darragh which saw all ferry and freight services between Dublin and Holyhead cancelled, throwing the travel plans of thousands of people and the logistics for importers into disarray.
Fears that the closure would lead to bare supermarket shelves next week have receded with contingency plans deployed by retailers said to be working well.
Postal delivery backlogs have also been largely cleared while passenger ferry operators have added capacity on alternative routes, although thousands of people still face an anxious wait to see whether they can be accommodated on crossings to Ireland in the run-up to Christmas or face the prospect of sky-high airfares.
“Further pressure needs to be brought to bear at the highest level on the UK authorities to bring in extra contingencies to deal with the current transport and supply crisis. It is felt that the UK government is not treating this crisis with the seriousness it needs,” the president of IRHA Ger Hyland said.
“We also need to put pressure on the shipping companies to work on Christmas Day as we will have at least 50 Irish drivers sitting on the side of the road somewhere in the UK when they should be with their families,” he continued.
He said the UK government, its ports and the shipping companies “could do a lot more to alleviate this crisis. The Irish Government also need to increase the pressure on their counterparts in the UK to increase the productivity on the other side of the Irish Sea because, for example, we know that at least one port like Pembroke has a lot more capacity and could step into the breach far more strongly here.”
On Friday, Taoiseach Simon Harris spoke to first minister of Wales Eluned Morgan about the impact of the ongoing closure of Holyhead on the movement of both people and freight between Ireland and Great Britain.
It is understood that both leaders acknowledged the ongoing efforts being made on both sides to ensure that people travelling home for Christmas are able to do so.
They also discussed the importance, in all scenarios, of ensuring sufficient port capacity to maintain the supply chains vital to both economies, and agreed to speak again in the new year to review progress.
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