IRHA ups protests
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IRISH road haulage operators are planning to step up protests against their government's failure to regulate the transport industry and crack down on illegal operators.
Members of the Irish Road Haulage Association are expected to approve a plan at this month's extraordinary general meeting to mount a 24-hour blockade at the main crossing points on the border with Northern Ireland.
"We have been extremely disappointed with the Government's response to our protest parades so far," said the association's national organiser Seamus Cleere, "and we are now considering tougher action. The border has been selected as a possible target because of the growing number of Northern Irish operators who are involved in illegal cabotage within the Republic."
The blockade threat comes after two major IRHA protest parades in recent weeks. On the first parade over 100 lorries were driven around a four mile circuit in Waterford for almost four hours. Three days later a similar protest was mounted in Limerick with 130 vehicles.
The parades were designed to catch the attention of the media and politicians rather than cause disruption or traffic congestion. "We put a limit on the amount of trucks involved," explained Mr Cleere, "and worked out a route with the police authorities to minimise disruption."
It is three years since the IRHA mounted similar protests in Cork and Dublin, and its demands remain unchanged. Mr Cleere revealed that the association had sent a detailed file to the Minister for Justice complaining about the lack of law enforcement against operators who had gone into the haulage business without a licence and were using a large number of uninsured lorries.
"These operators are putting the professional hauliers who pay their taxes out of business," warned Mr Cleere, "Unless the Government comes to grips with the present serious situation and takes immediate action, the industry will be devastated with the loss of thousands of jobs and the disappearance of a large number of family businesses."
The IRHA wants the Minister for Communications to set up a transport corps with responsibility for the enforcement of all transport regulations. This force would have special powers to examine, test and impound trucks which do not satisfy the legal requirements. It also wants a licensing authority to monitor the haulage market requirements and control the number of licences made available.
However the IRHA gained little satisfaction from a recent meeting with the Minister for Communications and is likely to take more militant action in the coming weeks.
Commenting on the IRHA's plans to block the Northern Ireland border, Ulster's Road Transport Association secretary, Stanley Martin, told CM the Northern Irish hauliers had been winning a greater share of business, but insisted that nothing was being done illegally.
He added that some Republic hauliers were carrying return load traffic from Britain to Northern Ireland, without an EEC permit. Enforcement authorities did all they could to try to catch offenders.
Mr Martin said he doubted whether the Republic hauliers would achieve anything by their protests, but said the RTA was prepared to meet IRHA representatives to see what their problems were and establish whether there were grounds for assistance.