Dublin port staff refuse to handle Irish Ferries ships

Dublin port workers voted tonight to refuse to handle any of Irish Ferries' ships in support of staff at the company who are facing being replaced by cheaper foreign labour.

Members of the marine division of Ireland's largest union SIPTU at Dublin Port decided unanimously to support their colleagues at the ferry company, branch secretary Paul Smyth said.

As a result of this ballot, our members will not handle any Irish Ferries ships - such as the MV Normandy- until such time as the dispute is resolved," he said.

The MV Normandywas allowed to dock late on Sunday night at Dublin with 113 passengers, for what was described as humanitarian reasons, after protests by port workers in Rosslare forced it to divert to the capital.

It has since sailed to Cherbourg and SIPTU has given the company notice its members will not allow it to return.

The increasingly bitter debate between union members and management at the ferry company began in mid-September when Irish Ferries announced it was looking to replace 543 Irish workers with foreign agency staff.

It escalated last week when security personnel escorted eastern European seafarers onboard the Isle of Inishmorein Pembroke and the Ulyssesin Holyhead, Wales, last Thursday, leading to protests on both vessels.

Although the personnel have been removed, three ships officers - Brian Whitfield, John Curry and Gary Jones - remain barricaded into the control room on the Isle of Inishmore, while crews on the Ulysses and the Jonathan Swift in Dublin are preventing their ferries from sailing.

With trucks sitting in ports for up to 24 hours awaiting transport, shipping agent Victor Treacy International has chartered a freight ferry to carry lorries to France.

The Brittany Ferries vessel will leave Cherbourg on Friday bound for Cork, before making a return trip on Saturday evening. The ferry, which was chartered following moves by the Irish Road Hauliers Association, can carry 70 articulated trucks. It is hoped it will alleviate frustration felt by many Irish exporters at their busiest time of year.

The move was welcomed Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Hauliers Association, who said a huge backlog of freight was building up as a result of action on the ships. "This is going to be of tremendous benefit to people who are in a jam.

He added that the industrial action was putting pressure on other shipping lines who were doing their best to plug the gaps in freight transport. In a separate development, the Seamen's Union of Ireland (SUI) has voiced concerns its members' redundancy packages might be affected by the current row.

While it is not joining SIPTU in the industrial action, the organisation is in dispute with Irish Ferries over the terms and conditions for those who wish to remain with the company.

Earlier today the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) expressed its

concern at the ease with which security guards had boarded the Isle of Inishmore, in Pembroke, and the Ulysses, in Holyhead, disguised as passengers.

The federation said it was

writing to the British Department for Transport requesting an urgent investigation into the apparent security lapses.