Cargo worth €18,500 destroyed
THE angry owner of a Wexford transport company said €18,500 worth of imported apples had to be destroyed last week after it was discovered that a stowaway had travelled inside one of his trucks from France along with the consignment of fruit.
Niall Murray of Corach International Transport Limited in Foulksmills said a claim would have to be made against his insurance policy after the 24-tonne load of apples from the South of France was lost.
Mr. Murray said the refrigerated truck came into the yard on Monday of last week having picked up a delivery of apples from Toulouse which was being imported by Keelings on behalf of Tesco. The vehicle had travelled by ferry from Cherbourg to Rosslare.
‘ The driver Seamus Lenihan came into the office and we saw a refugee sitting outside in a neighbour’s garden, a male in his 30’s who hadn’t a word of English.’
‘ When we went to confront him, he ran off so we called the gardai and a squad car arrived. They eventually found him about eight miles away,’ said Niall.
The truck load of apples was ‘condemned’ after a container of urine was found inside the unit. ‘ Would you eat apples after something like that,’ he asked.
‘My insurance is going to double after this. I wonder will Mick Wallace cry crocodile tears up in the Dail now. I’m only a small business operator in a little corner of Ireland. This is going to have a big impact on us.’
Niall said the problem is an ongoing one that is difficult to combat. ‘Unless you have an armed security guard at the back of the truck I don’t know how you’re going to stop it.’
‘ This is happening to Irish international hauliers every day of the week in Cherbourg, Calais, Roscoff, Cannes, Le Havre and Dunkirk.’
‘It’s all wrong. It’s Europe. These people being enticed to come here. Many of them are economic refugees. Mick Wallace is up in the Dail crying over it. That is not the solution. Help them in their own country, not here,’ said Niall.
A Wexford Garda spokesman said anyone attempting to enter the country illegally from France at Rosslare Harbour is returned to Cherbourg with a Garda escort.
On the same day that Murray Transport discovered the stowaway, a 20-year old Afghan national was found under the axle of an articulated trailer in Rosslare Harbour. He was detained at New Ross Garda Station overnight and brought back to France by ferry the next day, according to the Garda spokesman.