Irish and Welsh officials working to manage Holyhead Port disruption
The port is expected to stay closed until December 19th as repairs continue
Irish and Welsh officials are working together to reduce disruption following the closure of Holyhead Port.
The port, which serves as one of the main freight hubs between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, was damaged due to strong winds caused by Storm Darragh last weekend.
It is believed that the port is not due to reopen until Thursday (December 19th), whilst repairs at the port are carried out.
Welsh Transport Secretary Ken Skates MS said that the damage has become "more extensive" than first thought as the weather system passed through.
He explained in a statement that the transfer of goods between Wales and the Republic of Ireland will now be impacted, but both sides are working together to help ease the disruption.
"I am acutely aware of the significant impacts that the continued closure is having on logistics movements between Wales and the Republic of Ireland, especially given the high seasonal demand for timely deliveries of goods," he said.
"I understand that freight bound for the Republic of Ireland is diverting temporarily to other ports on the West coast of the UK - I am grateful for the flexibility and resilience demonstrated once again by our logistics sector in response to a disruptive event.
"However, it is imperative that the Port of Holyhead restores its operational capability at the earliest possible opportunity.
"I understand that the Port is focusing on restoring one of its berths with an amended timetable, as a means to get ferry capacity reinstated as quickly as possible. 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."
Similarly, Ireland's Junior Transport Minister James Lawless TD said that Irish authorities are working with haulage companies to help ease congestion.
"The other options we have are from Rosslare to Pembroke or Fishguard; also, Dublin can go - and does go - to Liverpool and Birkenhead and to ports on the northern side of Holyhead," he explained.
"What we need to do now is we need to ramp up capacity on those routes and we need to provide additional vessels."