Hauliers may block motorway in toll charge protest

A BLOCKADE of a new €200 million motorway may be mounted by truck drivers furious over toll charges.

The hauliers’ campaign for cuts in toll costs on the Fermoy by-pass escalated this week as they warned they may also run candidates in next year’s general election if the concessions they want are not granted.

The toll road which opened less than two months ago, is operated by Direct Route.

Talks between the Irish Road Hauliers’ Association (IRHA) and Direct Route Fermoy Ltd broke down in recent weeks and yesterday the IRHA confirmed that it would be encouraging its members — numbering some 170 in the Cork area alone, operating around 1,800 trucks — not to use the motorway.

The impasse is bad news for communities such as Watergrasshill, Rathcormac and Fermoy who will have to put up with heavy goods passing through their streets.

A recent survey by residents of Watergrasshill indicated that up to 1,300 trucks are passing through the village each day to avoid paying the M8 toll — a loss of revenue of as much as €2.5 million a year for Direct Route and the government.

IRHA deputy vice president, Pat O’Donovan, yesterday warned: “We will not be bullied onto the toll road.”

Asked if the hauliers were considering the possibility of mounting blockades at the M8’s toll booths, Mr O’Donovan said:

“We couldn’t rule out anything. We’re now in the situation where we’d have to go back to our members and discuss it.

“We’re telling our members that it’s not feasible commercially to use that piece of infrastructure.”

With major roadworks due in the town of Fermoy in the coming months, the stage is set for chaos on the motorway.

At the moment, the top charge for a truck going through the M8 toll booths is €5.30 including VAT, which works out at about €3.99 per truck when VAT is reclaimed and a 10% discount for “bulk-buying” of toll passes is taken into account.

The IRHA want a further 10% decrease in the price to make it commercially viable for them to use the by-pass. On the M50 around Dublin, truckdrivers are entitled to an extra 5% discount, achieved after lengthy negotiations with National Toll Roads.

However, hauliers say that since setting the rate for the Rathcormac-Fermoy road, Direct Route have attended meetings with hauliers’ representatives but refused to budge on the charges.

“We were not trying to blockade it or boycott it,” said Pat O’Donovan yesterday in relation to their discussions with Direct Route. “We were treating them as a commercial supplier of a service that we want and need to use. We want to negotiate an acceptable rate. We want to use that road. We don’t want to be in Fermoy stuck in traffic, or in Rathcormac or Watergrasshill either.”

He rejected the label of “toll-dodgers” and said anyone with any business sense would recognise the IRHA’s commercial position.

IRHA national secretary Sean Murtagh accused Direct Route of “arrogant behaviour” and said that their association had been continually “frustrated” in their attempts to get a deal.

He also revealed that some members want to run candidates in the 2007 general election.

Attempts by the Irish Examiner to contact Direct Route yesterday were unsuccessful.