Holiday sailings cancelled: High and dry

One of the dishonest seductions offered by Brexit Leave campaigners, and one swallowed hook, line and sinker by the gullible, was that quitting the EU would free them from “Brussels red tape”.

That the majority of “Brussels red tape” is in place to protect citizens, consumers of one kind or another, made little difference. That decision may be regretted.

Whether those who proposed to travel to France on a new Irish Ferries vessel this summer but have had their plans scuttled by tardy German shipbuilders can rely on our consumer protection legislation remains to be seen.

Irish Ferries face a bill of up to €7m for cancelling sailings, many booked by holidaymakers who had also made date-specific accommodation arrangements.

In this instance, the National Transport Authority is the relevant supervisor.

It must ensure, red tape permitting, that whatever arrangement is reached between Irish Ferries and the shipbuilder’s insurers, all stymied passengers are properly compensated — and not just for their ferry fares but the cost of the holiday they may have lost.