Iarnród Éireann has warned that ships could soon be turned away from Rosslare Europort in Co Wexford due to capacity issues as fuel protesters have set up a blockade at the nearby village of Kilrane which is about 1.6 km from the port.
Fuel protests have continued to block access to Rosslare Europort with some critical supplies allowed through after negotiations. Protesters have maintained the blockade on the N25 at Kilrane while permitting certain essential deliveries such as baby food and pharmaceuticals. Gardaí have engaged constructively with demonstrators to minimise wider disruption.
The action has affected freight movements with only limited trucks passing the lines. Ports and supply chains have experienced delays as a result of the ongoing protests. Emergency services have adjusted operations due to fuel availability concerns.
The operators of the port confirmed it could soon have to turn ships back to wait on anchor out from the port or advise to go to an alternative port. A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann revealed the situation could come to a head late tomorrow night or early on Monday morning. Protesters set up the blockade early on Thursday morning.
Only passenger traffic is currently permitted to pass through. Accompanied pharmaceutical freight was permitted through yesterday but that stopped yesterday afternoon leaving a mile of a tailback of trucks. Two ships are coming in tomorrow or early on Monday morning and once they off-load the port has no further capacity.
Iarnród Éireann has warned that ships could soon be turned away from Rosslare Europort in Co Wexford due to capacity issues. Fuel protesters have set up a blockade at the village of Kilrane which is about 1.6 km from the port. Only passenger traffic is permitted to pass through Rosslare Europort. Accompanied pharmaceutical freight was permitted through yesterday but stopped in the afternoon.
Two ships are coming in tomorrow or early on Monday morning and the port has no further capacity once they off-load.
Iarnród Éireann shared in a written statement: “Protesters have set up a blockade at Kilrane, which is about a mile from the port. This is in place since early Thursday morning. Only passenger traffic is currently being permitted to pass through. Yesterday, accompanied pharmaceutical freight was permitted through, but that has now stopped also since yesterday afternoon. There is currently about a mile of a tailback of trucks.”
“We will shortly be facing challenges as we have two ships coming in tomorrow/early Monday morning and once they off-load we will have no further capacity. We will then have to turn ships back to wait on anchor out from the port or advise to go to an alternative port. Once the blockades are lifted, it will take some time to get the port cleared before we can take any more freight in and the port may need to put restrictions on capacity during this time.”
