Trucks carrying calves that were due to set sail on two boats on Saturday for Cherbourg were held back due to weather conditions at sea.

Exporter William O’Keeffe confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that the trucks did not sail. They were due to depart on the Irish Ferries’ Epsilon ferry from Dublin Port and Stena Line’s Horizon from Rosslare.

The next sailing is Tuesday, with O’Keeffe saying the ferry companies “won’t cancel until late on Monday or early on Tuesday” if the weather forecast is bad.

If the weather at sea is bad, then for animal welfare reasons calf trucks will not be permitted to sail on the vessels. This time last year, sea swells of over 4m prevented trucks from sailing.

Lairage space remains at a premium in Cherbourg, France. Calves cannot leave Ireland unless there is capacity for them in Cherbourg, which is limited to 4,000 calves per day.

Last week, 12 calf trucks were held up in Ireland as there was no lairage space for them.

The lairage issue looks set to continue through the calf exports peak which runs up to mid-April.

Meetings

Last week, live exporters and the IFA met separately with Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed on calf exports. However, there was no progress made on lairage space at the meetings.

IFA president Joe Healy called on the minister to roll up his sleeves and make something happen to overcome the logjam on calf exports.

Read more

‘Minister must roll up his sleeves on live exports’ – Healy

‘The export of calves is an entirely commercial matter’ – Creed

12 calf trucks held up in Ireland due to French lairage problems - exporter