LAST UPDATE | 14 Dec 2024

MINISTER OF STATE at the Department of Transport James Lawless has said the latest estimate for the reopening of the port of Holyhead is a “week away”, with contingency planning currently underway amid fears Holyhead Port may not reopen before Christmas.

Damage caused to infrastructure during Storm Darragh last weekend led to the closure of the Welsh port and cancellation of all ferries, during one of the busiest commercial shipping periods of the year.

An Post and online retailers have rerouted hundreds of thousands of parcels to ports across the UK in a bid to get deliveries to Ireland, with An Post confirming yesterday that it received about 350,000 parcels from the UK as of Friday morning. 

Speaking on Saturday with Colm Ó Mongain on RTÉ this afternoon, Junior Transport Minister James Lawless reiterated that there is a need to plan for contingencies and alternative routes as Christmas Day approaches.

Lawless explained that at Holyhead port there are two jetties at the site that can take two very large vessels at a time. The storm damaged one pillar – called a dolphin – on one edge of one of the jetties. 

He said that underwater crews are investigating the damage while himself and his Welsh counterpart are working to redirect a large amount of the cargo through various other routes, including Rosslare to Pembroke, Rosslare to Fishguard, Dublin to Liverpool, and Dublin to Birkenhead, among others. 

It had been reported that a large number of drivers for hauliers had been stuck for upwards of fourteen hours waiting for movement. Lawless said that he had signed an instrument to give a derogation on driver hours for the next 14 days in an effort to alleviate the industry to some degree.

This derogation will extend the number of hours that drivers can work for. Outside of this emergency action, there is a maximum of nine hours driving per day permitted for each driver, although ten hours per day is permitted at most twice a week. There is a maximum of 56 driving hours per driver per week and no more than 90 in a fortnight. 

Under the derogation, drivers can now drive for eleven hours twice a week for the 14 days the derogation is in effect for. The weekly maximum has been extended to 60 hours and the fortnightly maximum is now 102 hours. 

These measures have been brought in to ensure that the load of inbound deliveries are rerouted in a timely manner as work on the port continues.

For people who travel by ferry, either with their vehicles or by foot, of which there are typically 100,000 during the Christmas period, Lawless said that he had been in contact with the NTA to ensure there is sufficient public transport for passengers who will have to take different routes while work continues on Holyhead.

“That’s why I shifted the approach on as soon as this became clear, to looking at alternatives, because I think if we put all our eggs in the basket of Holyhead coming back on stream, and if that didn’t happen, that’s not a position we want to be in. So that’s why we’re really shifting gear,” Lawless said. 

Earlier, the Junior Minister had said that the previous estimated date of 19 December for reopening was not to be relied upon and plans needed to be put in place.

“What I’m saying to people, and industries are also saying it to people themselves, is that we cannot rely on that date (19th December), we need to plan for the worst and we need to get ready for that,” Lawless said.

“We would typically have 10,000 or more 40ft shipping containers a week moving between Ireland and the UK. Dublin to Holyhead is the primary route for that, and we can only do so much as a state on this side of the Irish sea”.

The Minister said he had been in regular contact with stakeholders in his department and in the haulage sector and ports, and that he would be meeting the ferry companies over the course of the weekend.

Rosslare Europort is currently experiencing an increase of over 120% in freight volumes from the UK when compared to previous weeks.

A spokesperson said Rosslare Europort will do all in its “power to provide additional capacity and support at the port that will help address the challenges and concerns being experienced”.

The Irish Exporters Association said that shipping companies are trying to divert ships to other ports but uncertainty about when Holyhead would reopen created challenges for making decisions, as well as managing the locations of trucks, trailers and drivers.

Stena Line Ferries has also introduced an additional sailing to Liverpool and while the Port of Cork currently has no direct UK sailings, it has indicated that it has the capacity to operate one sailing a day, and possibly two, based on scheduling.

Lawless said that additional capacity is being provided from Rosslare, and Irish Ferries have assigned the WB Yeats to replace the Isle of Innisfree this week.

“What I’m saying to ferry companies is that we need to ramp up alternative routes, we need to provide capacity,” Lawless said.

He said that more than 100,000 ­people make the journey from Britain to ­Ireland by ferry each December, with operators working to boost capacity for passengers planning to travel home for Christmas.

Lawless said that 4,000 places on ­airlines are currently available over the next fortnight which provides a “bit of breathing space” for passengers seeking alternatives.

The National Transport Authority has also been consulted on public transport capacity from Rosslare and other ports should the need arise.

Includes reporting by Emma Hickey