'Irish Continental Group plc', more usually known by its trading name 'Irish Ferries' is a quoted
Irish Ferry operator. The company operates on the
Dublin Port (North Wall) -
Holyhead route, and from
Rosslare Europort to
Roscoff,
Cherbourg, and
Pembroke.
The company's flagship, the ''
Ulysses'', is the world's largest car ferry in terms of car-carrying capacity. Other ships in the fleet include the ''
Isle of Inishmore'', the ''
Normandy'', and the fast ferry ''
Jonathan Swift'' (aka ''Dublin Swift''). Recently, Irish Ferries bought Color Line's
''Kronprins Harald'' for 45 million euros. The Kronprins Harald will replace the Normandy on the Ireland - France route in late 2007. Irish Continental's
chief executive is Eamonn Rothwell. Its shares are traded on the
Irish Stock Exchange and the
London Stock Exchange.
The comany also charters vessels including the
Pride of Bilbao and former
Isle of Innisfree or
Pride of Cherbourg
History
The company was formed in
1973 as a joint venture between
Irish Shipping,
Fearnley & Eger and Swedish company
Lion Ferry A/B. Originally called ''Irish Continental Line'', it first operated between
Rosslare and
Le Havre with the
St. Patrick (ship). When Irish Shipping went into liquidation in 1984, ICL was sold off in a management buyout and took on its current name.
In
1992, Irish Ferries took over the
British and Irish Steampacket Company Limited, a
nationalised company which traded under the name
B & I Line and operated ferry services between Dublin and Holyhead as well as Liverpool and Dublin.
New vessel for French service
Irish Ferries expect to take delivery of
MV ''Kronprins Harald'' from the
Norwegian shipping company
Color Line in October 2007. Following modifications the ship will begin operations on the French service in November 2007 and will be renamed MV ''Oscar Wilde'' upon entering service with Irish Ferries. She was built in 1989 by
Wärtsilä Turku,
Finland. She is currently used by Color Line on a service between
Oslo (Norway) and
Kiel (
Germany).
Controversy
On the
23 February 2004, Irish Ferries announced that the firm could close over a dispute about a cost-cutting plan if it was not resolved soon. Director of Human Resources Alf McGrath announced the lay-off of 600 staff in the following few days. Also announced was the suspension of the swift ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, the Rosslare-Pembroke service, and the Rosslare route to Cherbourg and Roscoff.
On the
24 March 2005 it became known that, according to
SIPTU, Irish Ferries was paying a
Filipina woman just over €1 an hour to work as a beauty therapist on board the
Isle of Inishmore. Salvacion Orge had just begun working as a beauty therapist on the ferry, but the company ended her contract by closing down the service following queries about the wages she was being paid. She refused to disembark from the vessel. A meeting took place on the
29 March 2005 and after two hours of negotiation between her management and the trade union SIPTU, Ms. Orge was granted €24,000. The crew on board the ferry also made a collection for her totalling around €1,000. The next day she flew from Dublin to the
Philippines and was reunited with her three teenage children.
On the
19 September Irish Ferries offered voluntary redundancy packages to its 543 seafaring workers on its Irish Sea services on the Dublin-Holyhead and Rosslare-Pembroke routes.
The firm states they couldn't continue to operate with high fuel costs and increasing competition from rival shipping operators and low-cost airlines. The statement went on to say the situation had deteriorated this year with a 9% drop in the Irish Sea car passenger market and rises of up to 50% in the cost of fuel (even though their main competitors, Stena Line, announced an increase in profits in the same year). These voluntary redundancy packages were offered as a direct result of unsuccessfully negotiating with
SIPTU and the
Seaman's Union of Ireland to achieve cost reductions. The decision by Irish Ferries to outsource crewing on its
Rosslare to
France routes earlier this year led to a strike and demonstrations in France.
In late
November 2005, the crew of two Irish Ferries vessels were abruptly fired in mid-voyage and replacement workers installed. This led to a standoff between the management and the crew and an intense political debate in Ireland.
On the 9th
December 2005 a nationwide day of protest was called by the Irish Council of Trade Unions against the company's actions. Over 100,000 people participated, including 40,000 in Dublin. The protest stopped all public transport for over four hours.
During the January 2006 refit, the M/V Ulysses appears to have been re-flagged and now flies the
Cypriot flag, registered in
Limassol.
In December 2006, two Irish Ferries workers created an online forum for the benefit of their fellow co-workers.
Three days into the forum being opened, they were threatened with the sack if they continued using the site, whether in work or not. Irish Ferries argued that such a site could be potentially harmful to the image of the comany. The two staff decided to take down the site, but a month later, both were given a verbal warning - even though the site & all posts were done outside company time. The Union (T&G) got involved, but were unable to help as they felt a verbal warning did not warrant bringing it to the attention of a tribunal.
Fleet
Ships under charter to other companies
External links
★
Irish Ferries- Online Tickets Sales & Reservations
★
Irish Continental Group (corporate)
★
Irish Ferries (consumer)
★
(Irish ferries enthusiasts site)
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