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Displaying items by tag: Hauliers Call

An Oireachtas Committee will hear the Irish Road Haulage Association calling for a single entity to take charge of the free movement of traffic from ports ahead of Brexit.

Its President, Eugene Drennan, reports RTE News, is due before the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications Networks later today.

He will warn politicians that even if a Brexit deal is reached, hauliers are facing "catastrophic consequences" due to delays and obstructions at ports and airports.

Drivers will face checks from Revenue, the Department of Agriculture, the Health Service Executive and An Garda Síochána.

Mr Drennan is also requesting that the Road Safety Authority and Department of Transport take a more lenient approach to licensed hauliers, to ease some of the pressure they will be under.

Published in Irish Ports

An alternative route to Europe Irish hauliers and exporters said must be found to avoid potentially massive queues at British ferryports from the beginning of January.

A leaked British government letter (yesterday) suggests exporters to the EU face possible truck queues of up to 7,000 vehicles-long at ports if the industry does not prepare.

In the letter, the UK Minister responsible for no deal planning outlined "a reasonable worst case scenario"

Michael Gove said between 30-50% of trucks crossing the English Channel will not be ready and he warned that UK imports and exports could be adversely affected for up to three months.

The Cabinet Office document states that, in its reasonable worst-case scenario, between 30-50% of trucks crossing the Channel will not be ready for the new regulations coming into force on 1 January 2021.

More on this story reports RTE News here.

Published in Ferry

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!