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A SENSE OF PURPOSE

3rd May 2007, Page 46
3rd May 2007
Page 46
Page 46, 3rd May 2007 — A SENSE OF PURPOSE
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Irish hauliers gathered at their annual conference to welcome a new president and hear renewed commitments from government to deal with the industry's rogue elements. Patric Cunnane reports.

The Park Plaza Hotel on the outskirts of Dublin seemed a fitting location for the 34th annual conference of the Irish Road Haulage Association.This spacious modern venue, with ample parking for trucks, was completed just nine months ago and chimed with the sense of renewed purpose the IRHA has forged with the Irish government since last September's launch of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) enforcement agency.

The IRHA has been impressed by the zeal with which RSA chief executive Noel Brett has engaged with the concerns about illegal and unsafe haulage, in particular this year's commitment to bring the use of unlicensed farm vehicles within the scope of the licensing regulations.At present a high-powered agricultural tractor such as a JCB Fastrac can be driven by a 16-year-old and run on rebated diesel without any regard to restrictions on weight for safe working or the payment of road tax and fuel duty.

That, says the RSA, is about to change.

Change of president The conference was the swansong for outgoing president Vincent Caulfield.The quietly spoken Roscommon tippermart has served his two-year term hut will remain on the management committee. He is replaced by Jimmy Quinn, an operator based in Greenore, Co Louth. Quinn served as president in 1995-96 and wryly refers to himself as the "recycled president".

At his opening address following his election Quinn told delegates there were good reasons to be cheerful:-We now have one of the hest performing economies in the world but 20 years ago the busiest place in Ireland was the departure lounge at Shannon Airport. We have made a lot of progress in that time and it's good to look back on the efforts people had to make compared with the brilliant equipment we have today."

He acknowledged excellence among the members and singled out heavy haulier Frank Whitten, who recently transported the longest loads in Ireland to date when he delivered 145ft concrete beams for the new Shannon tunnel. Quinn pledged to renew the fight against rogue operators:"I have no truck with dishonest people trying to use our industry."