"IRISH road haulage firms have lost almost £2 million in business due to the blockade of ports, roads and fuel depots by French lorry drivers.
Mr Jimmy Quinn, president of the Irish Road Haul age Association, said that Irish hauliers were estimated to have lost £1 million up to last Friday. Losses were now running at £200,000 a day and were continuing to rise.
Large numbers of France's 200,000 transport workers have been on strike since Monday of last week in a dispute over pay, hours and pension rights. Yesterday, shortly after negotiations resumed, French haulage employers rejected key demands by drivers to resolve the dispute.
"Most of the vehicles trapped in France last week got out at the weekend, but unfortunately their places were taken by a fresh group of Irish lorries with exports for France and the Iberian Peninsula", Mr Quinn said. He added that most Irish drivers had completed their deliveries with reasonable success" over the weekend, including some who had made deliveries to the Paris meat market by slipping in through the rear entrance.
The French drivers increased pressure on their government yesterday by adding channel ports to the road and fuel depot blockades already in force. About 30 drivers sealed off the cross channel lorry terminal at Calais, preventing trucks from either landing or embarking. Drivers also blockaded the western port of La Rochelle and obstructed five crossing points into Germany.
It is understood that Irish live cattle exports to France are to be suspended until the dispute is settled.
Mr Albert Thompson, chairman of the national executive of the Irish Livestock Exporters' and Traders' Association, called on the Minister for Agriculture to use his presidency of the European Council of Agriculture Ministers to exert pressure on the French government to settle the dispute, which he said would cause "extreme hardship" to exporters if it continued.
While Irish drivers heading for Italy and Greece can use the Austria Germany route to return to Ireland, those heading for France, Spain or Portugal have little option but to attempt to return via France, Mr Quinn said. He added that British lorry drivers who were blockaded at Calais had added to the difficulties by effectively denying access to the port to drivers from other countries.
Mr Quinn pointed out that the blockade on petrol stations would also create difficulties for drivers seeking to replenish their fuel.