Clarity needed over Holyhead reopening, say hauliers

The port was originally due to reopen on Friday 20 December

Haulage companies are appealing for better communication and more clarity over the reopening of one of Britain's busiest ports.

Holyhead in Anglesey, north Wales, was forced to close following damage during Storm Darragh and is not set to reopen until January 15 at the earliest.

There has been major disruption on the main sea route between north Wales and Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.

Ger Hyland, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), said the closure was having a huge cost both in terms of money and drivers' time.

All ferry services between Dublin and Holyhead are currently cancelled, upending travel plans for thousands across the festive season.

On average, two million passengers use Holyhead a year and about 1,200 lorries and trailers make the crossing every day.

'Lost a vital five days'

The port was initially due to reopen on 20 December.

Mr Hyland told BBC Wales there had been a lack of clarity over when the port would reopen, which was harming their ability to plan ahead.

"Communication has been the biggest issue we have faced.

"If we'd have been told initially that the port wasn't going to be up and running, we'd have been five days ahead of where we are now.

"We lost a vital five days and had to re-route freight all over the UK to get to other ports and services."

He said it was important for the Welsh and UK governments to tell them definitively, "possibly straight after Christmas", when the port was going to reopen.

"We need to know when we're going to have a ferry running again between Holyhead and Dublin so we can plan our freight for next year," he added.

Dublin to Holyhead offers the shortest route between Ireland and England for freight and passenger ferries.

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

A number of additional routes and services have been put in place: Dublin to Liverpool, Dublin to Heysham, Dublin to Fishguard and from Belfast to Cairnryan.

Stena Line has added an extra sailing, at 23:30 GMT, from both Belfast and Cairnryan on 24 December in an effort to alleviate the build-up of traffic at the ports.

The closure had already led Ireland's national postal service to abandon plans to use Holyhead for Christmas deliveries.

Mr Hyland described the port as the most vital piece of infrastructure between Ireland and the UK.

"This has shown how vulnerable we are to the port of Holyhead and even when Holyhead is up and running, we just can't be as reliant on the one port as we have been," he added.

"I don't think the UK gets how important Holyhead is to the UK's economy. It's important to the Irish economy but every bit as important to the UK economy."

'Absolute priority'

Rhun ap Iorwerth is the Plaid Cymru leader and Senedd Member for Ynys Môn, where Holyhead is located.

He said the port was of "vital strategic importance".

"Both Labour governments, in Cardiff and London, have to step up and show that they are taking its closure seriously, and Ynys Môn needs assurances that this won't have a long term impact on the port's viability and prosperity," he said.

He called for an urgent summit of "all governments and elected representatives on both sides of the Irish sea, in order to provide full transparency".

Irish ministers met supply-chain stakeholders on Monday to facilitate new services "to the greatest extent priority".

The Department of Transport said the closure of the port was being treated with "absolute priority".

The focus remains on securing viable additional routes and vessels with sufficient capacity to support the steady movement of both goods and people between Ireland and the UK.

Speaking after the meeting, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said: "We will continue to work with the UK and Welsh governments to help secure additional berths in alternative ports, and we expect to get clarity on the state of play at Holyhead from Stena by mid-January."

Irish hauliers have warned that delays in resolving the Holyhead problems could lead to lay-offs or business failures, further requesting financial supports from the government or the EU.

The department said it would "take time" to determine any appropriate financial supports for hauliers affected by the closure.