Irish Ferries is refused £10m grant

AS TALKS resume this morning at the Labour Relations Commission to resolve the dispute at Irish Ferries, the Government has told…

AS TALKS resume this morning at the Labour Relations Commission to resolve the dispute at Irish Ferries, the Government has told the company it will not grant the £10 million subsidy it sought last week to its continental routes open during the winter, Padraig Yeates reports.

The decision was taken yesterday on the grounds that to grant the subsidy would be a major departure from Government policy not to give subsidies to private companies and could be seen as "a quick fix" to the firm's industrial relations problems.