A cheer worthy of Hill 16 went up at Dublin Port terminal last night as 2,000 passengers discovered that their marathon wait to sail home was over.
Irish Ferries' Isle of Inismore to Holyhead finally departed at 9.30 with passengers who had been due to travel on Saturday night and yesterday morning.
For much of the day the terminal had resembled a particularly disorganised refugee camp, as people from all over Europe huddled for warmth. Many had spent 24 hours there with little money to buy such food as became available, and less information on whether they would get home.
Some had an unhealthy pallor, having shivered through the night without any heat.
Mr Patrick Regan, his wife and four children had a dreadful night, which left them "feeling like we have the flu".
"One of the guys working here last night told us that the reason the place was so cold was that the heating went off automatically at a certain time and they didn't know how to switch it on manually."
Dublin Port's new terminal has been open for just 10 days. A modern and clean building, it is nonetheless draughty, even when the heat is on. Many also complained that there was no opportunity to buy hot food during the night and that the building was ill-equipped to cope with large crowds. Mr James Foran from Kilnamanagh in Dublin said the passengers were treated "worse than cattle. We got no information. There was no food available. It was a mess."
Despite departing 12 hours later than expected, he was relieved to be on the sailing as he was due at a funeral in London today.
Mr Gerry Kiely of Dublin Port acknowledged there were teething problems with the passenger terminal.
"The terminal hasn't even been officially opened. It's been designed and built to the highest possible standards, but it's still in the process of being finished off.
"We've had no problems up until now, but quite clearly we'll have to act on these complaints."
Mr Tony Kelly, Marketing Director of Irish Ferries, said he would be "extremely surprised" if there was still a backlog of passengers by this evening.