, MS, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales:
: On 7 and 8 March I visited Ireland to celebrate St David's Day
and to discuss the joint Wales - Ireland response to the closure
of Holyhead port in December with the Government of Ireland and
representatives from Irish businesses.
I met Ireland's newly appointed Minister for Transport, Sean
Canney, and discussed the Ireland-Wales relationship and the
proposed terms of reference for the Welsh Government led
Taskforce on Irish Sea resilience. We also discussed a range of
other issues including road-safety measures, rail, and the
importance and benefits of the Rail-Sail packages. We committed
to continuing our close working relationship, forged through our
shared experience of managing and mitigating the impact of the
closure of Holyhead port.
I also met with representatives from the Irish Exporters
Association, the Irish Freight Association and Irish Ferries to
discuss how the closure had affected the Irish, Welsh and UK
economies, the impact it had on their businesses, and the
short-term mitigation measures that were put in place including
the use of temporary capacity at other ports. We discussed the
lessons learned and explored some ideas about improving the
future resilience of the Irish Sea routes more
generally.
I would like to thank all the Irish colleagues I met during my
visit. They reinforced the
importance of Holyhead and our other Irish Sea facing ports to
communities in both our nations and beyond, and our shared
interest and responsibility, both now and in the future, to make
sure they thrive and grow.
Their views have also helped further inform the draft terms of
reference for the Taskforce. I have asked my officials to
circulate the draft terms of reference to the Taskforce members
ahead of the Taskforce agreeing them at its first meeting on 27
March on Ynys Môn. Membership of the taskforce will consist
of a core group, including among others, representatives from the
Government of Ireland, the UK government, the Scottish
Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, local authorities,
port and ferry operators, and representatives of the logistics
sector. We also intend to draw on specific sectoral expertise
during future thematic meetings of the Taskforce.
I have also agreed to establish a contact group for those Members
of the Senedd with Irish Sea ports in their constituency
(including regional MSs) so they remain sighted as the Taskforce
progresses.
