How Brexit shows the vital importance of Ireland s seas and ports
Updated / Monday, 1 Feb 2021
13:54
According to Nicholas Allen, author of the recently published
(Oxford University Press, 2020), Ireland is an island that forgot itself . UCC’s Claire Connolly has identified how Ireland’s relationship with its seas, coasts and ports has long been uncomfortable and defined by feelings of unease, dizziness and sea-sickness. It s one shaped by the violence of empire and a political culture which attaches primary importance to agriculture, land and land ownership.
While Ireland’s religious, industrial, demographic and geo-political histories have all been shaped by the sea, the maritime features surprisingly little in the Irish cultural imagination. There are, as Gillian O’Brien’s excellent
Updated / Thursday, 28 Jan 2021
17:44
The IHRA has criticised the lack of antigen test centres open to facilitate drivers travelling to France
Two antigen testing centres - one at Dublin Airport and another in Gorey in Co Wexford - are opening to facilitate commercial drivers travelling to France.
The Government is urging hauliers to pre-book the free test before they travel.
The advice has been issued because of a new French requirement for people arriving into the country to have proof of receiving a negative Covid test.
Results are expected to be ready within an hour of testing. More centres will open in the coming days.
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Hauliers warn of more disruption at Irish ports over new requirement for negative test to enter France
The new rules come into effect from tonight. By Press Association Wednesday 27 Jan 2021, 8:02 PM Jan 27th 2021, 8:02 PM 16,303 Views 6 Comments
File photo. Trucks at Dublin Port.
Image: Sasko Lazarov/Rollingnews.ie
Image: Sasko Lazarov/Rollingnews.ie
FRESH DISRUPTION IS being anticipated at Irish ports as a new requirement for negative Covid-19 tests for lorry drivers entering France comes into force.
The new rules come into effect from 11pm tonight Irish time – but government testing centres will not be operational until tomorrow morning.
The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has described calls from the Department of Transport to pre-book Covid-19 tests “absolutely infuriating”.
Ireland s direct export access to the Continent via ferries to France risks being disrupted from tonight because the Government does not have Covid testing at ports up and running.
Hauliers say they can’t guarantee Irish exports will reach continental Europe from tomorrow because of new testing requirements in France.
Direct sailings to France have been a lifeline for hauliers looking to go around the chaos at UK port since Brexit.
However, from 11pm on Wednesday drivers transporting goods by ship from Ireland to France will have to provide a negative Covid test before travelling.
But Eugene Drennan, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, says the government has so far failed to get Covid testing centres up and running at Irish ports.
Fresh disruption is being anticipated at Irish ports as a new requirement for negative Covid-19 tests for lorry drivers entering France comes into force.
The new rules come into effect from 11pm on Wednesday night Irish time – but Government testing centres will not be operational until Thursday morning.
The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has described calls from the Department of Transport to pre-book Covid-19 tests “absolutely infuriating”.
There aren t enough centres. There aren t enough centres in truck-friendly places
IRHA spokesman Eugene Drennan
Spokesman Eugene Drennan told the PA News Agency: “I have an email here asking us to test on time. Ministers urge hauliers to pre-book and allow enough time for pre-departure. Now that is absolutely infuriating.