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 
A SENSE OF PURPOSE
Page 46
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
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."