Ireland's Export Routes and Modes

choi

After I read the Economist's article "Brexit and the Irish economy," I can not help wonder why Irish exporters can not bypass UK as land bridge and export directly to European continent.

(1) First and foremost, there is no bridge between the entire island of Ireland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland
and the island of Great Britain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain

Though a bridge has been proposed. See
(a) Tom de Castella, A Bridge Across the Irish Sea and Four Other Amazing Plans. BBC News Magazine, Aug 14, 2013
www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23672538
(map: pay attention to Dublin and Rosslare)
(b) British Isles fixed sea link connections
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br ... ea_link_connections
(section 1 Proposed fixed sea links between Great Britain & Ireland: map is essentially the same as (a) above, without identifying the points on either end of the four proposed bridges)

(2) UK-Ireland: A €1bn-a-Week Trade Lane. Forward Magazine, Mar 6, 2017.
http://forwardermagazine.com/reg ... -a-week-trade-lane/

Quote:

"It's also worth bearing in mind that the Irish market is just as important to the UK – in fact, the UK exports more per annum to Ireland than it does to China, India and Brazil combined.

"one distinct advantage for the Republic [of Ireland] is a direct freight RoRo service between Rosslare and Cherbourg in France thus enabling hauliers to bypass the GB land bridge.

(a) "Forward Magazine: Market intelligence for the freight forwarding industry" is published by UK-based Freight Media Ltd, whose launch issue was Dec 5, 2015.
(b) Daniel Workman, United Kingdom's Top Trading Partners. World's Top Exports, Mar 30, 2017
www.worldstopexports.com/united-kingdoms-top-import-partners/
(No 5 Ireland: $22.8bn; No 7 China: $18bn, No 12 Hong Kong: $8.8bn)
(c) roll-on/roll-off
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roll-on/roll-off
(RoRo; This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off (LoLo) vessels, which use a crane to load and unload cargo)
(d) Rosslare Harbour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosslare_Harbour
(e) Cherbourg-octeville
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherbourg-Octeville
(The city "was officially formed when the commune of Cherbourg absorbed Octeville" in 2000; Cherbourg Harbour; Cherbourg was the primary goal of US troops during the invasion of Normandy in 1944; section 2.2 Origins and toponymy:  Carusburg would mean "fortress of the marsh" in Old Norse)

(3) James Browne, Brexit Issues. Dáil, Feb 22, 2017
https://www.kildarestreet.com/debate/?id=2017-02-22a.273
("If the land bridge through the UK is lost, there will potentially be customs at the ports going into Wales and then going out again when trying to get to Calais. The ferry going directly from Rosslare to France could become the only and certainly the main access route to mainland Europe. We have already seen a significant increase in ro-ro freight going through Rosslare Europort to the Continent in France. The trucking companies are getting ready for this but the Government does not seem to be getting ready for it. Rosslare Europort is silting up and is not getting the support it needs")

(a) home page of KildareStreet.com
https://www.kildarestreet.com/
("KildareStreet.com is a searchable archive of everything that's been said in the Dáil and all written parliamentary questions since January 2004, everything in the Seanad since September 2002, and all Committee meetings since September 2012")
(b) Dáil Éireann
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dáil_Éireann
( (lit. Assembly of Ireland) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature) )

This Wiki page does not say so, but Google says the street address of Dáil Éireann is "Leinster House, Kildare St, Dublin 2, Ireland."


(4) Colm Kelpie, Majority of Exporters Travel Through Britain to Ship Goods Overseas. Mar 10, 2017.
www.independent.ie/business/brex ... rseas-35517444.html

the first two paragraphs:

"Two thirds of [Irish] exporters go through Britain to get their produce to customers on mainland Europe and further afield, a survey suggests.

"And 40pc said that using a longer, yet more direct, route would adversely affect the quality of the product.

(a) Irish Independent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Independent
(1905- ; headquarters Dublin)
(b) This report (or survey) does not explain why: for example, 40 percent said so in quotation 2. But see (3) above.