1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196 
Dublin council to meet IRHA after East Link toll protest
Page 24
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A RECENT PROTEST by more than 100 trucks on both sides of Dublin's East Link bridge has forced Dublin City Council to agree to meet the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA).
The hauliers were protesting at the proposed toll of 64.80 (3.26). "Some container operators make eight crossings a day," says IRHA president Vincent Caulfield.
During the IRHA's annual conference, held in Sligo over Easter, Caulfield told CMthat he expects the council will suggest a compromise but he is adamant that no
toll is acceptable: "It's an absolute certainty that hauliers won't pay the toll. The container companies will not compensate them fort.'
Dublin Port Tunnel opens this summer and is designed to take LGV traffic away from the city centre. The tunnel is toll-free but Caulfield points out that to get to the tunnel, hauliers must first cross the East Link Bridge.
However, delegates at the conference rejected a proposal to say no to all tolls, recognising that some might save operators time and money. In some cases the association has negotiated discounts with toll operators. "Our principle must be that we are buying wholesale, not retail,' says IRHA spokesman Jimmy Quinn. A five-member committee has been elected to shape the IRHA's policy on tolls.
• Trucks will be restricted to the inside lane of the Dublin Port Tunnel. This follows an IRHA warning that trucks would emerge from the tunnel straight onto a motorway where they are already banned from the overtaking lane. Dublin City Council says the motorway is designed to take trucks seamlessly from the tunnel so the same rules will apply to traffic using it.
Quinn says one of the issues is thatthe motorway rules mean all trucks must stay in the inside lane no matter what.
"The prohibition on overtaking means we have to stay behind all other vehicles, even the slowest," he points out."Lorries are often held up for miles by things like agricultural vehicles, which is ridiculous."