Operator P&O Ferries and its parent company DP World should be "in no doubt" that the British government is considering its links with them following the mass sacking of 800 seafarers, Tory chairman Oliver Dowden has said.

Protesters will march on the Tory spring conference in Blackpool, England, to register their outrage at the sudden announcement.

Labour has urged the government to publish the legal advice it received on whether P&O broke the law when it sacked the workers on Thursday.

P&O operates a ferry service across the Irish Sea from Liverpool to Dublin and Larne in Northern Ireland to Cairnryan in Scotland, as well as ferries from England to France.

The Opposition asked if there are legal moves ministers could take to reverse the decision to make so many staff redundant without consultation.

It also published analysis of data it said shows P&O Ferries has received £38.3m in Government contracts since December 2018.

For more, RTE News has coverage.