A public meeting will be held Saturday 15 August at 7.30pm in the Athlone Springs Hotel to discuss the ceasing of live exports by Brittany Ferries.

The meeting will be hosted by MEP Ciarán Mullooly and Independent Ireland agriculture spokesperson Michael Fitzmaurice TD, joined by his party TDs and councillors.

Protests involving approximately 20 to 25 people at Portsmouth had been a principal factor in the company’s decision to withdraw from the Irish livestock export trade, according to Deputy Fitzmaurice.

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“We met today (Friday) with Christophe Mathieu, the chief executive of Brittany Ferries, and the message we received was extremely serious,” Deputy Fitzmaurice said.

He slammed the disruption caused by a small number of animal rights protesters and said that it is not acceptable.

“Twenty-five protesters cannot be allowed to bring a vital Irish export trade to its knees. This is an island nation. Our farmers depend on reliable access to European markets and we cannot allow a small group of activists to effectively dictate whether Irish livestock can reach those markets.

“What is particularly concerning is that Brittany Ferries told us they had sought assistance, but were unable to find a way of legally stopping the disruption.

"That raises very serious questions about the rule of law and whether businesses involved in legitimate trade are being adequately protected.

“If a legitimate business can be forced to abandon a service because a small group of people are allowed to cause repeated disruption, then we have a serious problem," he said.

Unacceptable disruption

Deputy Fitzmaurice said the Brittany Ferries CEO indicated that Irish livestock exports represented only a small proportion of the company’s overall business, but the disruption surrounding the trade had become unacceptable.

He said the Irish Government now needs to engage directly with the British government, Brittany Ferries and the European Commission to find a solution.

“The Irish Government cannot sit back and watch this happen.

“Ciaran Mullooly and I intend to engage with Minister Heydon and ask him to contact the British government directly and push for a meeting involving Ireland, the UK, France and the European Commission."

Engagement

“We need all the relevant parties around the table. This is bigger than one ferry company. It is about Ireland’s ability, as an island member state, to access the European single market.”

Deputy Fitzmaurice said the Brittany Ferries CEO indicated that the company would be prepared to review the position if there was a significant change in circumstances and that he would participate in discussions between the relevant governments and the European Commission.

"In fairness to Brittany Ferries, they are prepared to sit down to try to find a solution to this, but engagement needs to come from the relevant authorities," he said.

Party leader Michael Collins called the situation "incredible", saying that the impact of this will be felt across Ireland "from north to south and east to west if a resolution is not found immediately".