Family face missing Christmas due to port closure

Cillian Kirwan says he is faced with staying in the UK or making a last-minute five-hour journey to catch a ferry

A young family are struggling to get home for Christmas due to storm damage at the busiest port between the UK and Ireland.

Cillian and Louise Kirwan, who live in Manchester, had a ferry booked from Holyhead to Dublin on Sunday, but it was cancelled because of the port closure.

They said they were "stressed and frustrated" and could have made alternative arrangements had the port announced its closure earlier.

Stena Line, the port's owners, said it had tried to arrange alternative plans for passengers and freight.

Mr and Mrs Kirwan, who have two children, aged four and six, said they had to get home "by hook or by crook".

Mr Kirwan said: "It was one Christmas where we wanted to get home because my dad passed away in October and my wife's mum is quite sick at the moment."

They have been relocated from a ferry in Pembroke, more than 200 miles (320km) from Manchester, to Rosslare in Co Wexford, but have not been given a time or date for the sailing.

He told Good Morning Ulster it meant "potentially a five-hour drive down to Wales" and then another two hours at least to Dublin.

He added the travel was a "difficult situation" because his two children were autistic and long drives were stressful for them.

They have also looked at flights from Liverpool or Manchester, but said with luggage would cost "up to about £700".

"Pretty much we're handcuffed at this stage in that you either have to take what you're given or choose to stay in the UK for Christmas."

Kim Ward and Shannon Foley have had to organise complicated alternative plans to get them and their dog back to Ireland

Kim Ward, 28, a paediatric nurse originally from Co Monaghan, planned to travel from London to Holyhead by train, before taking the ferry to Ireland with her dog Ziggy.

She said she had called Stena Line "multiple times" to try and move her booking to Fishguard or Liverpool, but said it was not possible as the ferries had yet to be cancelled.

She added she and her partner Shannon Foley were lucky to get Christmas off and felt it important to spend it with family.

Ms Foley now plans to borrow her cousin's car, drive Ms Ward and their dog to Dublin, via a ferry crossing, before driving back to London to finish her Christmas shifts.

She will then fly to Ireland on Christmas Eve.

Jac says all his colleagues were annoyed and having to go to Birkenhead was an inconvenience

Lorry driver Jac Hughes-Richards was diverted from Holyhead to Birkenhead for some of his loads.

The 22-year-old said he had to travel up to Birkenhead or "even further up".

"It's an unnecessary amount of time added on to our day, it affects our loads heading down, trailers are taking longer to disembark ships, it's not ideal.

"It's more so waiting about, which is time we can't make back, of course we're limited to the amount of time we can work."

He added it was "bedlam" in Birkenhead with the port "absolutely rammed with trailers".

"There's no parking spaces going into the port, we're queuing half a mile up the road. It's crazy."

Pete Reid has had to rearrange hotel plans to make the crossing, but he still does not have a date

Pete Reid, a project manager also from Co Monaghan, was due to travel home via Holyhead with his wife Emma.

Mr Reid, 40, who lives in London, was offered an alternative crossing by Irish Ferries from Fishguard in Pembrokeshire to Rosslare in Co Wexford, but said he still did not know when he would travel.

"I've just been told I will be put on a boat, I don't know what time or what day. They haven't told us anything."

When will Holyhead port reopen?

The port was damaged during Storm Darragh on 6 and 7 December, with two incidents affecting the Terminal 3 berth resulting in part of the structure collapsing.

The reopening date has been pushed back several times, with the port now saying it would remain closed until at least 15 January.

Stena Line and Irish Ferries each operate four daily sailings between Holyhead and Dublin.

It is the busiest crossing between the UK and Ireland. Two million passengers use Holyhead each year and about 1,200 lorries and trailers make the crossing every day.

Those lorries, their drivers and transport companies are also affected by the disruption.

Darren Murphy, of BM Transport, said there were 50 loads stuck at the port, and drivers had missed flights home to eastern Europe due to 15-hour delays.

He said the company was losing "hundreds of thousands" in turnover each week and he was concerned about having to lay staff off.

He added there was "no doubt" going to be Christmas shortages and he had "very little faith" the port would reopen by 15 January.

Ger Hyland, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast the closure was having an "unbelievable impact" for their members and freight.

"We are travelling hundreds of miles up and down the UK to other ferry ports, so all the freight and deliveries are in the wrong place."

Josh Fenton, policy manager for Wales at Logistics UK, said it was "peak season" for the sector.

He said works needed to be expedited to "get that freight moving between those two ports again".

In a statement, Stena Line, which owns the port, said it had been "working hard to provide alternative travel arrangements for customers during the busy festive period".

"Stena Line is offering sailings for passengers and freight from Dublin to ports in Birkenhead and Fishguard."

It apologised for the inconvenience and said it was doing everything in its power to mitigate the effects of the closure.

Irish Ferries has been contacted for comment.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Ynys Môn Member of the Senedd and leader of Plaid Cymru, said answers were needed on both a "short-term and long-term front".

"Long-term we need assurances about the prosperity of Holyhead Port, and what has happened here? Were there underlying problems?

"Short-term we need to be sure that the middle of January is the timescale we're working to, but also we need an assessment from the Welsh government on what the impact of this is on businesses, the community here, and on Holyhead, so assistance can be offered - this is very, very serious indeed."