His great-grandfather worked on the docks at Holyhead, and he is fearful of the damage already done. Rhun ap Iorwerth is member of the Senedd (Welsh parliament) for Ynys Môn, the Welsh name for Anglesey. In this red-wall seat, where at the last general election a Conservative MP was sent to parliament for the first time since 1983, about 1,000 jobs depend on the port, 250 of them directly. Local politicians and businesses say jobs are now at risk. The port’s owner, Stena Line, part of the shipping line owned by the Swedish Olsson family, is warning that the slump could be permanent. In just seven weeks, freight volumes have plunged by 50%.
About 450,000 trucks rumbled through each year on their way to Dublin, with cargoes of meat and agricultural produce, secondhand cars and items destined for the shelves of Irish supermarkets.īut the UK’s departure from the EU has changed all that. P erched on the shores of Anglesey, the island linked by road bridges to the north-west coast of Wales, Holyhead’s geography has given it a leading role in British-Irish trade since the early 19th century.Ībout 50 miles directly across the Irish Sea from Dublin, a journey of just three-and-a-quarter hours by ferry, Holyhead was until December the second busiest roll-on roll-off port in the UK after Dover.
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