Stena suspending Rosslare-Fishguard service for 2 weeks
NEWS that Stena Line is suspending its Rosslare to Fishguard service for at least two weeks has been greeted with concern, despite assurances from the company that they remain committed to the route.
It seems the Stena Europe will be a notable absence from Rosslare for at least two weeks, as it’s been moved onto the Dublin- Holyhead route in order to cover unplanned maintenance work on another vessel. The company says that the decision not to provide alternative cover is due to a lack of ferry capacity as the company has drastically increased sailings to continental Europe.
Speaking on the decision, the company said: ‘ This is in no way a reflection of our commitment to the RosslareFishguard route and we’ll use this time to complete some repair works that are required on the Fishguard ramp.’
They followed on by stating that the Stena Europe will return to it’s ‘current two trip- schedule’ from Rosslare to Fishguard as soon as the Stena Horizon returns to Dublin- Holyhead, hopefully in ten days time.
Freight volumes on board the Stena Europe are said to have dropped by up to 50% as a direct result of Brexit and Covid, with passenger travel down somewhere in the region of 95%. While Stena has seen increased traffic on its Cherbourg route, the company is desperately trying to reduce costs on the Fishguard route and has already halved sailings to the Welsh port.
The company does, however, remain optimistic that things will pick up again and are lobbying both the Irish and British governments for improvements to Brexit processes which may ‘enable freight to move with less admin than currently exists’.
Meanwhile, rumours have continued to circulate that negotiations are ongoing between Stena Line and Irish Ferries over the latter moving its Rosslare sailing to Stena Line- owned Fishguard rather than Pembroke.
It would be a similar arrangement to the one that the companies currently have in Holyhead. Manager of Rosslare Europort Glenn Carr had previously called for this kind of arrangement, which he said would greatly improve frequency for hauliers.
GREAT sadness greeted the news of the death of wellknown local lady Lily Murphy (83) last month.
Lily (née McCartan), who was the widow of the late Tony Murphy MRCVS MVB, lived in ‘Maryville’, New Ross, for over 40 years before moving to Castleview Court. Having cared for her late husband during his long illness, Lily spent her final years in St Joseph’s Care Home in Ferrybank.
Renowned for her elegance, Lily raised seven children and was a devoted grandmother to her 17 grandchildren.
A past lady president of New Ross Golf Club, Lily was born at Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, in 1938 to the McCartan family, who owned some of the finest country houses in Ireland, including Duckett’s Grove in County Carlow.
Coming from a family of lawyers, Lily’s nephew is the former TD and Circuit Court judge Patrick McCartan and her son Tony Murphy has recently been appointed assistant coroner for North London. Her daughter Lisa is a former secretary of the UK Labour Party Irish Society and the recipient of two ‘Irish Post’ awards for her services to the Irish community in London.
Lily’s late husband Tony was a distinguished equine veterinary surgeon and both their families were involved in horse racing. They coowned a number of race horses trained by the late Paddy Mullins.
Whilst always proud of her west of Ireland heritage, Lily enjoyed a deep connection with New Ross and was a much-loved member of the community.
Lily passed away on January 17 and was laid to rest in St Stephen’s Cemetery following a funeral Mass at St Michael’s Parish Church on January 22.
Lily was pre-deceased by her beloved husband Tony and her daughter-in-law Rita.
She is sadly missed by her seven children, Philip, Hélène, Michael, Lisa, Tony, Sarah, and Paul, their partners, her seventeen grandchildren, nephews, nieces, cousins, friends and the many who loved Lily in New Ross, Ballinrobe and beyond.
Ní bheith a leithéid arís ann.
ArCHITECT Fergus Flanagan has seen a new kind of client emerge over recent months: the ‘no budget’ ludicrously wealthy kind.
His most striking commission of late has been an Irish castle, which will be built at an unspecified location in the south east for the princely sum of more than €7m. ‘It’s going crazy,’ the Wexford town based architect said. ‘We’re rejecting about five projects a week now we’re so busy. We are just doing better and better. Some of our clients have no budgets.’
A shell house in Dalkey designed for a UK client who moved to Ireland because of a Brexit company relocation, was one of the ‘no budget’ jobs.
Describing the dynamic in the Dublin market as ‘more than Celtic Tiger’, Mr Flanagan said: ‘A lot of people have a lot of money but this is another level. We get a lot of hedge fund managers who have moved from London.’
He got the castle commission through Linkedin. ‘An Irish employee of a German industrialist saw me. The man already has houses in Monte Carlo, Paris and Berlin. He has a number of large scale factories in Ireland and he wanted to build a castle here.’
After an initial meeting, Mr Flanagan was hired. ‘He said he loves Ireland. He said: “I have a 100 acre site and I want a modern Irish castle. There is no budget”.’
Mr Flanagan encouraged his team to ‘just go for it’ and go for it they did.
‘That is where you have to reside (mentally). The site was boggy so in those instances you dig a big hole and water goes to its lowest level so the lake came from there.’
Researching the history of how castles were built, Mr Flanagan and his team of five came up with a round tower effect and a timbre structure in the middle surrounded by stone structure and glass.
‘We also used a datum: a series of spaces. The wall becomes a journey. He wanted friends to have their own quarters so we designed two curved towers with suites. We also wanted an office and to bring over his four cars: a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Aston Martin. We stuck a moat in the front as well, why not!’
The client will only spend a few weeks a year in the house, he added.
Dublin born Flanagan worked in Berlin in the Nineties, getting a job in one of the city’s best architecture practices. He met his wife Natalie, who is from Wales and they decided to move back to Ireland and settle ‘half way’, in Wexford.
‘We’re living here with our family 17 years now.’ When he returned he was taken aback by how houses were designed here. ‘They were designed to stay indoors. I started designing houses with covered terraces and outside fire pits. More of a continental style. I don’t look at the Irish precedents.’
He cites his shell house as an example of the unique houses that can be designed through analysis of clients’ wishes.