THE UNION Siptu will today meet ferry operator DFDS following the Danish firm’s announcement it is to close its routes between Dublin and the English ports of Birkenhead and Heysham.
Of about 200 jobs affected as a result of the route closures, some 48 workers are based in Dublin. The union met staff yesterday at a meeting of its port and docks section.
Siptu official Ken Fleming said it was hoped today’s meeting with DFDS would see agreement on redundancy packages for staff, and said the company was well aware of the efforts made by its workers. He described the ferry operator as a good employer, whose staff were fairly paid and well treated.
The two routes will cease at the end of this month, with three ships attached to the services moving off the Irish Sea.
DFDS, which controls a fifth of the freight market between the Republic and Britain through the routes, decided to close the routes as a result of a steep decline in activity in 2008 and 2009.
“The market conditions in the area are quite simply too difficult, and unfortunately we do not envisage any improvement in the near future,” said Niels Smedegaard, DFDS chief executive.
Mr Fleming blamed the route closures on “fierce competition” and an over-issuing of licences to shipping companies when the Irish ferry trade was stagnant.
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association said the move to close both the routes “has sent shock waves through the transport sector”, adding that there was a potential knock-on impact on businesses and jobs.
“Besides the significant inconvenience caused, the decision will reduce the level of competition on routes to the UK and the Continent, leading to higher charges for transport companies,” said chief executive Mark Fielding.
Elsewhere, one of the longest established music stores in the west of Ireland has become the latest victim of the recession.
Staff at the Zhivago music store in Galway city centre were yesterday told their jobs were gone. About 12 staff will lose their jobs after Sound City Galway Ltd, which operated the shop and another outlet at Galway Shopping Centre, went into voluntary liquidation.
Joe Carroll of Zhivago said the recession and an increase in online downloads were among the factors leading to the shop’s closure.