AN Irish shipping company has been accused of paying its crew members as little as €2.63 per hour for working 365 hours per month in what trade unions fear is a repeat of the Irish Ferries crisis of 2005.

LEADING shipping companies regularly operating on the Irish Sea are paying staff members as little as €1.31 an hour.

Union activists have prevented an Irish Ferries vessel from docking in the French port of Cherbourg today as part of a protest over low pay.