The Government has been urged by the Irish Road Haulage Association to help set up a fast, direct daily ferry service with continental Europe for lorries to avoid post-Brexit disruption on the UK transit route.

Eugene Drennan, the president of the industry group, has called for Government intervention to secure supply routes with continental Europe by establishing a fast, daily ferry service for lorries, preferably into the French port of Le Havre, supported initially with subsidies.

The association has requested financial support for hauliers using a direct ferry service to cover any higher costs from using the longer, more expensive route and to designate new, faster ferry services as public service obligation (PSO) routes for at least a year.

Mr Drennan said political and logistical challenges thrown up in recent weeks show Ireland’s “extreme vulnerability” to maintaining dependence on the so-called land bridge through the UK to gain access to EU markets.

More on this Irish Times story here.