Sinn Fein General Election candidate, Cllr Johnny Mythen, is calling on Wexford’s two Ministers of State, Deputies Michael D’Arcy and Paul Kehoe, to step up to the mark and meet with Irish Ferries management on the situation at Rosslare as a matter of urgency.
In a statement issued to WexfordToday.com Cllr Mythen said that Ministers D’Arcy and Kehoe “must step up to the mark and meet with Irish Ferries management on Rosslare as a matter of urgency and should they fail to get the decision reversed they need to work closely with their French counterparts as well as with Iarnrod Eireann to ensure new business and new routes as soon as possible.”
This withdrawal of Irish Ferries from Rosslare port to Cherbourg is viewed as a major financial loss to Co. Wexford and the entire region. Over 200,000 passengers -many of them tourists -are carried each year by Irish Ferries through Rosslare port.
“The British Government has already taking steps to insulate and protect their ports from the appending Brexit “no-deal” scenario by allotting estimated at €180 million,” said Cllr Mythen, who added; “The Irish Government have not invested one cent in Rosslare for the last 15 years and C.I.E., who run the port have used most of their profits from the port to improve their rail lines in Dublin.”
Cllr Mythen believes this is not a Wexford issue, but a national issue also. “To expect a port to operate on a shoestring is a financial impossibility. Without investment, infrastructure and most importantly government capital investment, this port will remain under threat.”
Rosslare Port is covered by two Acts – The Railway Act and the Harbour Act. According to answers Sinn Fein received from Parliamentary Questions the Attorney General advice on this matter stated that this is causing legal issues and inhibiting private investors.