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LAST UPDATE | 12 Dec 2024
THE FREIGHT AND shipping industry is calling for Holyhead Port to reopen for ferries as soon as possible afters days of closure due to damage sustained during Storm Darragh.
The port has been closed to marine traffic since the weekend when its infrastructure was damaged during the storm.
It had previously indicated that crossings would be able to resume on Tuesday evening but it still remains closed as of this evening, forcing traders to find alternative routes at the busiest time of year and raising some concerns about timely deliveries for customers ahead of Christmas.
This evening, a statement by An Post said that no date has yet been verified for the port to reopen. A large portion of parcels have been rerouted from Holyhead to various other ports. An Post said that this has decreased the backlog at Holyhead from approximately 500,000 parcels to 150,000.
The Irish Exporters Association has called for “immediate and urgent action” to reopen the port.
“The Dublin-Holyhead and return route, a vital link between Ireland and the UK, plays a crucial role in the Irish export and import industry, facilitating the smooth transit of goods and services,” the IEA said in a statement.
It added: “The prolonged closure has already caused considerable disruptions, affecting supply chains, businesses, and consumers alike, and any further delay could impact the availability of certain items in the run up to Christmas.”
IEA CEO Simon McKeever said that the closure has created challenges for both importers and exporters and that there is now backlog in both Dublin and Holyhead ports that will take days to clear.
“Because of the return nature of logistics movements between the two ports, the ongoing delay in reopening is causing serious concern across all sectors and I urge the Minister for Transport and the Irish Government to contact their Welsh counterparts to resolve this issue,” McKeever said.
“Holyhead Ferry Port is a critical infrastructure not only for the Irish export community, but also for Wales and the UK, and its prolonged closure has the capacity to causes significant supply chain issues in the run-up to Christmas in both countries causing undue hardship to businesses and consumers.”
Waiting for updates from Holyhead Port over the last several days amid uncertainty about when the port would re-open has caused problems for traders and logistics companies.
Simon McKeever of the IEA, speaking to The Journal, 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.
Additionally, many passengers who were due to travel on the cancelled ships may be looking to re-book, he said, raising questions about: “When people are travelling home for Christmas in both directions, who gets priority on that boat?”
“The latest information we have is that it will be a quarter past five tomorrow that the port will reopen,” Flynn said.
“If it is sorted by that time tomorrow, then the logistic companies are telling me that the backlog will be sorted by Christmas. If it goes into next week, then I think there’s a real problem.”
CEO of Freight Transport Association Ireland (FTA) Aidan Flynn said that the disruption has come at a difficult time of year in the run-up to Christmas and that it is “creating concern and anxiety”.
However, he added that the supply chain “is resilient”.
“We’re beginning to see a moving of supply lines to Liverpool and Pembroke and Fishguard out of Rosslare and Dublin,” Flynn said, speaking to The Journal.
“That will help alleviate it but the main priority is to get Holyhead open again.”
Flynn said that given the structural damage caused to the port, it needs to first be made sure it is safe to re-open it.
An underwater inspection was delayed earlier in the week due to continued poor weather.
At the same time, the sector needs “need clear understanding from Holyhead as to what the timelines are like”.
“We need a bit more clarity about what the timelines look like,” Flynn said, after changing estimations given during the week about when the port might re-open.
Currently, Stena Lines and Irish Ferries, which operate on the Dublin-Holyhead route, have cancelled all of their crossings today and early tomorrow but are both hoping to run ships later tomorrow.
However, there was a similar plan in place earlier this week which ultimately was scuppered by further delay.
Strong words from a strong survivor
What an amazing, inspirational lady. Teaching love, not hate!
@Conrad Shields: Oh please. Why ask her that? shes from Czechoslovakia , not Israel. Thats like asking an Irish Roman Catholic what they make of the vatican. All comments should be about one thing only, and all the crazy deniers can F off to the loony bin where they belong.
@Pauline Gallagher: It is a very good question considering she lives in Israel.
@John Killeen: do you not see this absolute obsession mostly from people from a half left background with one of the smallest countries in the world of 5 million people surrounded by countries of unfriendly governments to say it mildly with population of between 500 million to 800 million people .the hebrew race of people have since time began suffered more than other race of people in the history of the world ….in 1974 the turkish army invaded northern Cyprus and causing 100s and 100s thousands of Greek Cypriots fleeing for there lives leaving there homes and properties to south of this island Greek main land. Turkey replaced them with people from the turkish mainland and refusing Greek Cypriots return to homes NO OUTCRY from the far left and its supporters. About it ..NO word about the Kurdish people or Tibet people I could on and on list regions of the world ..back to west bank and Gaza and holy land there is a forgotten persecution of the Catholic and Christian populations by Hamas and Fatah and it henchmen and other Islamists who are carry out attacks on daily basis resulting in the disappearing of Catholics other Christians communities across the holy land …they are leaving for Europe and the west…Israel’s government are saying its the responsibility of Palestinian authority PA…otherwise they are thrown to the wolves…..No body cares what’s happening to them..
A dignified courageous woman.
In fairness only mental people with severe cognitive dissonance deny it happened, and nobody should be listening to them people. I know it’s hurtful, but try and focus on how unwell they are…
@Bazzle Bush: whilst I wholly believe the holocaust happened, I can understand how younger generations might not believe in it. For many, myself included, the idea that people were treated so horrendously is unbelievable. The idea that humans can be that especially cruel even makes me want to not believe it happened. But, I know it did, because unlike many deniers, I actually look at the evidence available to us, and seek to understand it.
@Bazzle Bush: all these groups from the very hard left to the very hard right ideologies all have one thing in common there dis like of Hebrew people down through history
Not one to control speech.
However, should be internationally illegal to deny the Holocaust happened.
To turn a blind eye on history, opens the door to repeating it.
Powerful. There will always be crazies in every country that deny the essential truth of the Holocaust. Anti Semitic usually, intertwined with strong elements of conspiracy theories about governments and other deluded race based nonsense.
They lock up people who question the narrative. Something is wrong in that situation.
@Robert Dungan: There is no narrative to question.
It happened. It’s well documented by video evidence, eye witness testimony of the survivors and soldiers who saved them.
Shut up.
@Seán Ó Briain: why lock someone up for denying it?? Why not just ignore them.!!?
@Martin McFly: Because anti-semitism is a kind of mass hysterical madness. You only need to look at the last 1000 years of European history to see it. Think of banning Holocaust denial as a public health intervention.
@Seán Ó Briain: “Shut up”. I’ll have my say you moron.Always question everything.
I can not understand how these . people can even talk about the things they went through . it’s hell on earth God love them.
There are thousands of photos taken from space, the moon waxes and wanes every month and there are a million opportunities to test GPS every day, but 1.3% of Americans think the Earth is flat.
Sadly, there are just some people who are idiots.
@Conrad Shields: happened on her watch?? By that logic the systemic abuse of children in institutions in Ireland happened on your watch..shall I also hold you accountable for the homelessness crisis?..also would hazard a guess and say she probs isn’t reading the comments on the journal so doubt you’ll be getting her opinion any time soon
@Hasbara Watch: oh shag off..seriously! It’s an entirely separate thing! She’s a 90 year old holocaust survivor, the modern day Israel-Palestinian conflict has nothing to do with this article or this lady and her story.
I believe you. Oh my god . IT SURE DID HAPPEN..
Love to you . Your A Strong Woman . X
@Conrad Shields: Oh jesus..she doesnt answer that for your satisfaction, it happened on her watch? what was she somehow responsible by virtue of living in the same country? a lot of atrocities happened in THIS country on our watch.
@Hasbara Watch: Yes fine, but you’re referring to all holocaust survivors, like its their personal responsibility to be vocal about the actions of others. I would say most holocaust survivors do not live in Isreal. And im not a racist, not even a little bit. What im saying is..dont you think shes been through quite enough in her life? why bring ANY of this into her story? they arent mutually exclusive, you know.
The people who deny the Holocaust ever happened believe they are right because they read about it on YouTube. Like your man Dermot Mulqueen from Ennis Co Clare who was on TV last week , re the subject of Holocaust Deniers , believes that the Auschwitz Camp had swimming Pools , heated dormitories , a theatre and a football pitch. That’s how deluded he is.
@Conrad Shields: what’s your view on Fatah and Hamas in its treatment of Catholic and other Christians in the west bank Gaza and holyland and and right across the middle east for that matter
If only it was as simple as teaching your children not to hate. Divisions have always worked well for those who crave power. And now it is also about the speed of communication and how that will be used in the future. The holocaust was so awful that it beggars belief. That fact is what will be used by the nay-sayers.
Even I know for a fact that the Holocaust happened and I’m a Flat Earther!
God bless you and help us prevent genocide. History needs to inform the present. No holocaust denial.
Mary
@Hasbara Watch: why is the Catholics and other non Moslems populations rising in Israel but disappearing in surrounding Moslem majority countries…and for the the rights of LGBT Community I think everyone know what there fate in Moslem domination is …I would rather feel safe and my family as Catholics in Israel than in any of the neighbouring Islamic society’s
@Hasbara Watch: 25 April 2019 JIFNA Catholic village on the west bank savagely attack by FATAH and it’s henchmen…read on line its terrifying to read …FATAH and Hamas are carry out pogroms against them on daily basis and Israel are refusing to get involved saying its the responsibility of Palestinian authority PA ..but Fatah and Hamas control these areas ….no body from free Palestine have nothing to say about it just waffle about its not happening at all. you can read all about the disappearing of Christians across the holy land/ west bank /Gaza and middle east on line for self ..please spear a thought for them when comments on what’s happening across the holy land.west bank Gaza
@Conrad Shields: just imagine if she could get that message of love and not hate across to the people in Hamas. It might just stop some of those far too frequent rocket attacks
Let us never forget. History has a way of repeating itself.
Just bought it on the book depository. I’ve read a few other books by Auschwitz survivors, but so far the most touching for me was mengele’s twins.. what those poor children went through was monstrous and it is a miracle some survived to tell their story,
How people can claim the holocaust didn’t happen is just incomprehensible..
Just finished reading the book the choice wrote by a woman who survived auschwick great read by an amazing woman real story of survival
@Hasbara Watch: go on, tell us all about this new “holocaust “!
God the internet has really given village idiots their own village to shout nonsense from.
Focus on the holocaust of today?
Ooo looks the Journal has returned to its policy of deleting any Anti Israel/Zionist comments! #ZionismisRacism
She is indeed living proof, if further proof was needed, that the Nazi holocaust was factual.
We should forever be conscious of the capacity of humankind for cruel inhumanity to subject people.
And understand that subjected peoples will bear generational scars & security fears, as is evidenced by Israeli hyper defence gearing in their homeland.
Pity that interviewers do not take the opportunity to enquire of Nazi survivors what they think of the Israeli subjection of Palestinian people, & the prospect of generational consequences for both peoples.
Some people believe the stupidity they read. I have met a few who buy into ridicous conspiracy theories such as the rothschilds ruling the world and the holloc never happening. It saddens me that people who went through the Irish education system can be so so dim and so so lacking in intellect to determine what reality is over and above that which is clearly false. Such people believe rubbish and are clueless. We should all ignore them and never listen to their diahrea.
Who said “it never happened”?
Who said “It never happened.”?
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