Jobs axed as P&O shuts Rosslare link

BRITISH ferry operator P&O is to shut its Rosslare-Cherbourg route as part of an €80 million cost-cutting programme that will see 1,200 staff lose their jobs.

The company said few Irish jobs would be lost, but Irish Rail warned it would need talks with the company to find out the effect on 90 of its Rosslare Europort staff that conduct loading work on P&O’s behalf.

P&O’s move is part of a plan that will see the number of ships it operates cut from 31 to 23 as it closes down four of its 13 routes serving Britain, Ireland and the continent.

Its other Irish routes, from Dublin to Liverpool and from Larne to the Scottish cities of Cairnryan and Troon, will be unaffected by yesterday’s announcement.

Labour TD for Wexford Brendan Howlin said the announcement was a serious blow to efforts to further develop the port at Rosslare and that it would be “potentially disastrous” for the southeast.

“This is the second major jobs blow for Wexford in a matter of days,” he said.

“Not only will Irish P&O employees lose their jobs, but this will impact on Irish Rail staff and all others who work in a variety of areas at the Europort.”

P&O’s rivals on routes from Rosslare to France consist of Irish Ferries, which is owned by the Dublin-quoted Irish Continental Group (ICG), and Brittany Ferries. ICG declined to comment on yesterday’s developments.

But industry sources said the P&O move was unlikely to have significant upside for Irish Ferries. The route between Rosslare and Cherbourg was primarily used for freight traffic. There was little scope for Irish Ferries to add to its business given capacity constraints, observers said.

Davy Stockbrokers said the P&O closure would even be “a slight negative” for ICG. Davy said P&O’s decision to cut costs would make the overall competitive environment more difficult, especially from a pricing perspective.