How concerned should people with ferry crossings booked from Holyhead to Dublin before Christmas be right now?
There is no way to sugar coat it, they should be pretty concerned. While the authorities in the Welsh port have not said much beyond suggesting it will reopen by the end of this week, concerns are mounting that it might much longer before ferries will be able to dock there again. Speaking on Monday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said it was “highly unlikely now that we will see Holyhead port functioning in any real way this side of Christmas”.
And how big a problem is that?
It is a pretty big problem both for those who are waiting for products bought online from British-based websites and – more importantly – for those hoping to travel to Ireland by sea before Christmas.
Are there many people likely to make that journey?
There are more than 100,000 people in more than 30,000 cars planning to drive home for Christmas and scheduled to board Irish Ferries and Stena Line ferries at Holyhead.
That is a lot of people?
It certainly is, although it is less than 10 per cent of the number that will come through Irish airports over the same period.
And if Holyhead can’t accommodate the ferries?
In the simplest of terms, passengers have the right to a re-routing, a re-booking or a refund, in much the same way they do when planes are grounded. Neither a refund or a re-booking will be much good to those looking to get home to Ireland for Christmas so that leaves re-routing.
So what is happening on that score?
While ferry companies are good at managing disruptions – they have to be because they are far more vulnerable to cancellations caused by storms – they have never had to deal with disruption on this scale. Additional capacity is being provided from Pembroke in Wales to Rosslare with Irish Ferries assigning the WB Yeats to replace the Isle of Innisfree this week. Stena Line has also introduced an additional sailing to Fishguard. and will take cars and their passengers on additional Dublin – Birkenhead sailings on Stena Estrid, from early on Tuesday morning.
What should intending passengers do?
In the first instance, they should keep in close contact with the ferry companies. When it comes to what is likely to happen over the weekend and into next week, the picture is likely to be clearer by Tuesday morning.
What happens if I accept a re-routing and land at another port far from Holyhead?
If you are driving you will have little choice but to cover the extra distance and if you are travelling by coach then you will most likely be brought to Dublin so it should not make that much difference other than adding hours on to the journey.
For foot passengers who find themselves landing in ports they did not expect, the junior minister at the Department of Transport said there may be “some use of shuttle buses, emergency reception facilities, et cetera, but we need to make sure that that system is in place and we need to make sure that those journeys can be made”.
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