Ken Skates 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.