Customers in Ireland are being advised to shop locally as the closure of a ferry port in North Wales continues to affect Christmas deliveries.
Holyhead port on Anglesey remains shut after it suffered damage during Storm Darragh nearly a fortnight ago.
It is not yet known when the port, which is one of the main gateways for UK-Republic of Ireland freight, will reopen as repairs take place to structural damage.
The storm brought gusts up to 94mph, disrupting much of the UK.
An Post, Ireland‘s state-owned mail delivery service, says additional capacity has been created across all other ferry lanes into the country.
For the first time since the COVID pandemic, rules around the number of hours drivers can be on the road in a day have been temporarily relaxed in Ireland.
The relaxation, which allows drivers to operate for more hours to help with the backlog, will last until 27 December, the country’s transport department confirmed.
But a spokesperson for An Post said “some impacts” remained, including a shortfall compared with the freight capacity that would otherwise have been available were Holyhead port open.
‘Feeling the pinch’
Ger Hyland, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, told Sky News that Holyhead may not fully reopen until “well into the New Year” and its members were “really feeling the pinch”.
“We have very little access to the UK ports. We’re down about 60% on our normal capacity,” he said.
Mr Hyland said the association’s members were “finding it very hard to get bookings on ferries”.
“The big problem here is everybody’s talking about parcels and stuff for Christmas, but it has far wider implications for the commercial sector,” he added.
“The longer this goes on, the bigger problem it’s going to create. Come Wednesday, Thursday of this coming week we’re now going to be trying to get space on ferries as will the passengers who are travelling to and from for Christmas.”
‘Undue hardship to businesses and consumers’
Simon McKeever, chief executive of the Irish Exporters Association, said the closure of Holyhead port had created “significant challenges”.
Mr McKeever said the port was a “critical infrastructure” and that its closure in the run-up to Christmas was “causing undue hardship to businesses and consumers”.
Read more from Sky News:
Girl, 12, charged over death of 80-year-old man
Woman avoids jail after throwing milkshake at Nigel Farage
Over the weekend, Wales‘s transport secretary Ken Skates said the damage was “more extensive than first thought and may take some time to repair”.
“Safety must remain a priority, so the port will only re-start services when properly ready to do so, but I know that the team at the port are working as hard as they can to resume operations at the earliest possible opportunity,” he added.
Mr Skates is expected to meet port authorities and local stakeholders on Wednesday.
