Warning of adverse effects of ferry strike
The dispute, which focuses on the introduction of foreign low-cost crews to Irish routes, has paralysed all Irish Ferries' services since Monday.
Irish Ferries carries passengers and freight between ports in Ireland, Britain and France.
The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) and the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) urged both sides in the stand-off to consider the serious negative consequences of their actions.
Both organisations blamed striking SIPTU Irish Ferries' workers for jeopardising essential services, threatening jobs and inconveniencing 100,000 travellers.
A statement from both representative groups said it was unacceptable that an essential service could grind to a halt without exploration of all the avenues provided by the State to resolve industrial relations disputes.
"The singling out of Irish Ferries by SIPTU for this action is totally unwarranted and is not justified given that dispute resolution procedures were not followed by SIPTU and fully exhausted prior to industrial action being taken," the statement said.
The IHF said the strike would seriously hamper those seeking to return to Ireland for Christmas and disrupt the most important route for tourists entering Ireland.
IHF chief executive John Power said one third of the 3.7 million visitors from Britain travelled to Ireland by sea last year.
"The dispute gives uncertainty to Irish people living in the UK and the Continent planning to drive home with their families for Christmas festivities.
"In addition, it sends a highly negative signal abroad to potential tourists as an unpredictable sea service influences people to rule out Ireland for their 2005 holiday," he said.
IEA chief executive John Whelan said exporters relied heavily on ferry services.
"Irish exporters rely on sea freight services to deliver 80% of their export sales to customers in the UK and the European mainland.
"Fast, reliable, multi-option sea freight services spread throughout the day seven days per week has been an essential element in the growth of Irish exports over the past 10 years," he said.
Meanwhile, exploratory Labour Relations Commission (LRC) talks between both sides concluded yesterday with the LRC urging all sides to consider the implications of their dispute.
However, there is no sign of a significant breakthrough from either side. SIPTU is understood to have proposed some cost-cutting measures. These were discounted as insufficient by management.
