Holyhead sailings resume following closure in December
Sailings into and out of Holyhead Port have resumed this morning, after a temporary closure due to damage caused by Storm Darragh in early December.
Of the two ferry berths that were damaged, one has reopened.
However, Holyhead Port has insisted that it will still be able operate at full volume by altering its schedule.
Irish Ferries said the 7.30am sailing from Dublin to Holyhead has been delayed until 9.30am due to “operational reasons”.
The 1.30am sailing from Holyhead to Dublin departed late, due to what Irish Ferries said was a technical issue with a shore ramp.
Stena Line’s sailings from Dublin to the Welsh port are running as scheduled.
Minister of State at the Department of Transport James Lawless welcomed the reopening of Holyhead and praised the efforts of the haulage sector over the past few weeks.
President of the Irish Road Haulage Association Ger Hyland said the reopening of the port would alleviate a major problem for hauliers.
However, he said it is a “temporary fix” because the second berth is not open and trucks that did arrive this morning from Dublin were delayed several hours.
Speaking in Holyhead, after arriving on one of the first ships, Mr Hyland described the reopening as “a start” but warned that “if it goes down again we’re in an unholy mess”.
He called for financial aid for his sector of close to €30 million.
“Unless we get this [money], there is certainly going to be casualties within our sector.
“We’ve had hauliers with their trucks and trailers parked up. We’ve had other hauliers dragging trailers back out of Holyhead Port up as far as Cairnryan in Scotland and back down to Dublin and down further afield as well.
“All that has come at a huge financial cost”.
Businesses in north Wales are also relieved, after many saw a significant drop in earnings as a result of the closure over Christmas.
Claudia Howard, owner of the Boathouse Hotel in Holyhead, said that her business lost many bookings.
“We had 147 cancellations, which as an average of £100 per night, is £14,700. That excludes bar spend and restaurant spend, and also we do coach parties … so actually we lost a significant amount over this period of the port closure,” she explained.
A taskforce is to be set up between the Irish and Welsh governments to try and ensure such a situation does not happen again.
Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Transport Ken Skates said that it would involve the Irish, Welsh and UK governments along with representatives of the ferry and ports industry.
Extensive efforts were under way over the past few weeks to get alternative routes in place via ports such as Liverpool and Pembroke.
It involved meetings with Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, Mr Lawless and British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.
Article Source – Holyhead sailings resume following closure in December – RTE
