The Welsh port is the UK’s busiest ferry port and many parcels are sent from there
Holyhead port has suffered significant damage due to Storm Darragh, raising concerns that ferry services may be disrupted until after Christmas, potentially delaying the delivery of festive parcels between Ireland and the UK. Stena Line, the ferry operator that owns Holyhead port, had initially planned to close its doors until December 20th, cancelling all services until then.
However, Irish premier Simon Harris expressed growing worry about the port’s condition on Monday, noting the increasing “seriousness” of the situation as time goes on.
“I think it’s highly unlikely now that we will see Holyhead port functioning in any real way this side of Christmas and of course, that is a serious concern to both people who’ve bought goods and presents and gifts that they’re hoping will arrive, and also people that are understandably trying to get home for the Christmas period,” he stated during a visit to Dun Laoghaire.
He added: “What I can say is this a huge amount of work is ongoing in government on this issue. Today, the Minister for Transport and the Minister of State for Transport will meet their Welsh counterparts.”
Ireland’s junior minister at the Department of Transport, James Lawless, engaged in discussions with his Welsh counterpart Ken Skates on Sunday, leading up to a follow-up meeting with Stena Line scheduled at 1pm on Monday. Mr Lawless reported that they are requesting Stena Line provide more precise and prompt updates regarding the extent of the damage and necessary repairs at Holyhead, reports North Wales Live.
“It’s a very challenging situation and probably the worst possible time of year for something like this to happen, with people anxiously waiting for parcels to arrive,” he told RTE’s Morning Ireland. “A lot of small exporters from Ireland wanted to get the goods to the Christmas market in UK and vice versa, as well as all the normal business that transacts, and then of course, persons looking to come home for Christmas.”
He said Mr Skates has committed to also temporarily relax driver rules as had been done by the Irish government over the weekend.
Ireland’s Department of Transport announced that it would ease rules around haulier hours until December 27, allowing drivers to do more hours and take fewer breaks. Mr Lawless said that this being introduced from both sides at Holyhead would help to clear the backlog of deliveries.
He also said he was engaging with his Scottish and Northern Ireland counterparts in relation to delays. Ireland’s postal service An Post said it had delivered the vast majority of items ordered before Storm Darragh, with just 16,000 of the 500,000 yet to be received.
It said ferry capacity has been created in other ferry lanes into Ireland and additional sailings have been added to schedules. Mr Harris said: “We will look at every possibility in terms of providing additional capacity. We’ve already made it very clear that we will put on extra shuttle busses and the likes, should we be able to get other fairy crossings to other ports.”
“So there’s a lot of work going on to make sure people can get home for Christmas and to make sure as many gifts as possible can be here in time for Christmas, we’ll have a further update after the meeting.”
