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The independent TD and former chairman of the Irish Road Transport Association, Verona Murphy, has claimed that contrary to the Foreign Minister’s comments, there is no capacity to bring Irish trucks home.
“You have no idea what it would look like,” he said on RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne program.
“There are 200 trucks that went to the UK to try to use the land bridge, there are another 200-300 that are heading to Cherbourg and some are already there and are trying to get back to Ireland. As well as another 200 trying to leave Ireland to try to bring product to the continent.
“I have three factories in the southeast with 1 million euros in meat products and they cannot get reservations on ferries to France and the Netherlands.”
Ms Murphy said she had been warning for some time that the IMDO report was wrong and also that the Stena Line ferry referred to by the Minister will not accept drivers, it will only leave trailers.
“We currently have capacity between today and tomorrow for 90 trucks and trailers when we need 400. That statement made by the Minister that we have sufficient capacity is a wrong statement, it is totally false.”
Ms. Murphy said there were several options, but they would require government effort and a coordinated approach.
“Many drivers refuse to go out because they are not going to get caught. Those in Cherbourg trying to get home for Christmas are very worried: sitting on a pier in a harbor for Christmas or on the side of a road.
“I think the Dáil should be called up again. I’m not prepared to sit down and eat my Christmas dinner when people like this are stranded for no good reason. I checked this. ”
When asked if stranded drivers would end up sitting in taxis on Christmas Day, Ms Murphy said yes.
“We don’t have the capacity. Our last ferry is scheduled for Wednesday – if we only have 90 truck capacity and need 400 capacity then they will be sitting in a port or on the side of the road. No choice.
“This day of reckoning was approaching. No one has done any preparation. ”
Murphy said he knew of two carriers who, between them, have a 1 million euro worth of product in Cherbourg without ferry reservations.
“That is what we are seeing for next week. We have a product that is perishable and will rot with a very limited shelf life, five days from the moment it is loaded until it is put on the shelf. I suspect it will get worse in two to three days.
“The government should step in: Brittany Ferries has a ship arriving in Rosslare from Spain this afternoon, that ship should be commanded and turned around Cherbourg to facilitate this.”
People who bought gifts online this year may not receive them before Christmas due to the current travel crisis.
The President of the Irish Road Transport Association, Eugene Drennan, raised the issue this morning saying that people may not receive their packages on time.
Speaking at Newstalk’s Pat Kenny Show, Mr. Drennan said: “People who shopped online may not receive packages for Christmas now and need to do traceability checks this morning to see where their item is and if it is in way.
“The thing about these major sites is that you may end up shopping in Germany, and it may not arrive this week. There is a possibility that some things will not happen. “People should check to see if their order has left their distribution center, and if not, they may need to make other arrangements, he warned.
Drennan also said that the travel ban implemented by France on Sunday did not take into account Irish carriers using the land bridge between the mainland and the UK.
“France did not think of Ireland when they introduced this blanket ban yesterday afternoon.
So we have 200 to 250 Irish trying to get home, ”he told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny show.
Trucks registered in Ireland should be “pulled” out of the long lines that have formed at ports and France should make an exception to “help” another EU state, he said.
When asked if the truckers traveling today would be back in time for Christmas, Drennan said they might have to consider flying home and leaving the trucks parked in France.
Today there has been no problem with the transport of goods from Ireland to the UK, he said. “Freight is moving, for anyone who is concerned about a family member traveling in or out, they can travel today or tomorrow.”
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said every effort will be made to repatriate Irish truckers stranded in UK ports trying to reach the mainland while mobilizing to ease concerns about food shortages.
Coveney told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show that he anticipated the ferry routes between the UK and Europe would be reopening soon, as it wasn’t something he wanted to see closed for an extended period of time.
The minister reiterated a warning to hauliers, truckers and companies not to attempt to use the land bridge across the UK. They should not leave Ireland unless they had a confirmed trip from the UK to France.
Mr Coveney said there would be a trip from Ireland to the French port of Cherbourg today, which was full, and there were several direct ferry options tomorrow.
Negotiations were ongoing between the Department of Transportation and the operators of the planned Rosslare to Dunkirk ferry to begin service before the first week of January.
“There is significant capacity on the direct ferry routes.”
The minister also said he did not anticipate any shortages of food products as the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s had predicted for the UK.
There has been “quite a lot of stockpiling,” he said, but there is no evidence of a shortage in Ireland.
Supply chains will change in the coming weeks, he said, and he was hopeful that the land bridge problems would be solved in “the next few days.”
Meanwhile, the Transport Minister has thanked a ferry company for doubling freight services from Ireland to mainland Europe starting tomorrow.
Eamon Ryan tweeted to Stena Line: “Good to hear the news now, that they will double their freight services directly from Ireland to the mainland, effective tomorrow.
“We are working with all of our ferry and airline companies to manage the latest Covid-19 crisis.”
Stena Line confirmed that the Stena Foreteller was due to set sail tomorrow, carrying cargo and drivers.
The ship was scheduled to launch on January 1 to meet the demands of Brexit.
But the company said it is now “moving to the position of starting on the Rosslare to Cherbourg route. We will now have two ships leaving tomorrow directly for France. Please contact our cargo team to make reservations.”
Update for Irish Sea freight customers: Stena Foreteller is moving into position to start on the Rosslare to Cherbourg route. We will now have two ships leaving tomorrow directly for France. Contact our transportation team to make reservations. https://t.co/UJKkQHQTzs pic.twitter.com/UG9LIOpMRd
– Stena Line Group (@StenaLine) December 21, 2020
Mr Covoney said Irish residents currently in the UK would be repatriated as soon as possible with the Department of Transport in communication with the airlines on a number of flights.
Anyone arriving on those flights is expected to self-quarantine for 14 days. They would be required to fill out the locator form and it was illegal to fill out the form incorrectly.
There would be follow-up calls, but not for everyone, he said.
The government was working “day and night” to ensure it makes the right decisions, he said.
“We will make decisions when we have all the facts in front of us.”
The president of the Irish Road Transport Association, Eugene Drennan, has said that there are between 200 and 250 Irish truckers stuck in English ports trying to reach the mainland.
Drennan cautioned that no company or trucker should attempt to move goods today unless they have a confirmed ship reservation.
“No one, no transporter, no truck driver, no factory should load a truck this morning if that truck does not have a confirmed ship reservation to go directly to the continent and there are no direct ships to the continent this day,” he told RTÉ. Radio Morning Ireland.
“We don’t have the service line. I’ve been asking for it all this year and a report came out saying we had enough capacity and we were safe. Well, this morning wastes that report. We don’t have the capacity and we don’t have direct lines to the mainland for our products this morning. ”
Drennan added that he hopes truckers in UK ports hoping to set sail for Ireland will be allowed to travel home on their respective ferries today and tomorrow.
“The ferry companies have to do everything they can to get us home and that leaves something to be desired at this point.”
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said the truck drivers who are stuck “would have been the ones who left yesterday morning or afternoon, before a ban was introduced.”
When asked in Morning Ireland what happens to them, Ryan said: “Some of them will have to go back, they may have to find other routes, other land bridge routes other than France.
“That is why we are working with transport companies and their representative groups to see what approach can be taken.
“But we will have that direct route.
“We have seen in the last nine months, 10 months that actually our transport companies and carriers have been able to operate a really safe service.”
On the same show, Simon McKeever, executive director of the Irish Exporters Association, said that what was happening highlights that the UK is not ready for Brexit.
Typically some 3,000 trucks from Ireland use the UK land bridge, he said, but many of its members have moved to use direct shipping routes to France.
“It’s a bit early to say what the impact will be; what we do know is that freight is open between the UK and Ireland, but we have witnessed huge queues at Holyhead. There was a 10 mile queue back on one stage, the load is moving between Great Britain and Ireland, but the load is not moving between France.
“We will have to wait to see what will happen, but the impact could be particularly damaging three weeks from now, if this continues.
“This is a real test of Brexit, of what would have happened in the event of Brexit.
“I was listening to (UK Health Secretary) Matt Hancock say yesterday ‘we are ready’ – they are not ready – when our members talk to their UK counterparts – those companies, generally excluding very large companies, are not I’m ready for Brexit. “
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