Positive forecast for Irish Ferries

The head of Irish Ferries has said that initial sales indications for the summer months have been “reassuringly positive”, adding that the company could also survive a collapse of the euro currency.

Speaking after yesterday’s AGM of Irish Continental Group — which owns Irish Ferries and the Eucon and Feederlink freight businesses — group chief executive Eamonn Rothwell remarked that things were looking positive after a mixed start to the year.

Mr Rothwell said that there was no real change since ICG’s last trading update — covering the first four months of this year — published earlier this month, when increased losses, declining revenue and lower debt was reported. However, he said that advance bookings for Irish Ferries’ summer schedule had been “reassuringly positive” and that visitor numbers from Britain — across all travel options, combined — should rise by between 7% and 8% this year; on the back of things like improved promotion of Ireland as a destination, the Government’s VAT initiatives and lowering hotel prices.