Security staff and crew row in Irish Ferries stand-off

CONTINUED industrial relations unrest at Irish Ferries erupted into an extraordinary series of events last night leaving any hope of a prompt return to Social Partnership in tatters.

The escalation in hostilities began yesterday as security men wearing flack jackets boarded the Isle of Inishmore at Pembroke dock and the Ulysses at Holyhead port along with 70 new agency workers from Latvia and a number of other Eastern European countries.

With Welsh police called to the scene, ships officers and SIPTU crew members barricaded themselves into the ship’s engine control room while security guards occupied the bridge on behalf of management.