ALL’SWELLATTHEENDOF ANIGHTMAREJOURNEY
FERRY TRIP TOOK 27 HOURS INSTEAD OF THE USUAL THREE
A Stena Line ferry with 146 people on board berthed at Fishguard in south Wales after a nightmare 26-hour crossing from Rosslare, a journey that should normally take a little over three hours.
Battered by 120 km/h winds and ferocious seas whipped up by Storm Angus, the Stena Europe, which left Rosslare at 9 a.m. on Monday, finally arrived at the Welsh port at 11 a.m. on Tuesday after a night spent sheltering from the worst of the storm off the Llyn Peninsula to the north of Fishguard.
Diane Poole, Head of PR and Communications for Stena Line said the passengers were in great spirits, considering how long they had been board the ferry, which was carrying 87 passengers and 59 crew. Stena Europe had made two attempts to berth at Fishguard, but was unable to pass through the breakwater to the harbour because of the ferocity of the storm, the first of the winter.
A member of the crew said the ferry was never in any danger and ‘it wasn’t bad at all, but then I’m at it every day of the week’.
‘ The only thing that was wrong was that the winds were wrong for us to dock, the sea itself wasn’t that high.’
Anne Burke, from New Ross, had been travelling to see her two-week-old grandson in Bridgend, in south Wales.
‘I’d rung Rosslare the night before and was told the crossing would be fine,’ she said. ‘As it turned out, the weather was horrendous.’
Giles Fitzherbert, an 81-year-old retired diplomat, from Woodbrook House, in Enniscorthy, was unphased.
‘I have been travelling for a very long time and – compared with some of my experiences – this crossing was quite smooth, believe me,’ said Mr Fitzherbert, on his way to see his family in Oxford.
‘I just wish my grandchildren had been with me because they’d have enjoyed the excitement. It wasn’t traumatic – we were actually quite comfortable.
‘Arriving a day late is just a little inconvenience – having said that, I now need a train to Oxford and there’s currently absolutely no sign of it.’ Passengers told Welsh media the crew were great, providing complimentary meals, although one complained that they made one mistake when they closed the bar at 9 p.m. BISHOP Denis Brennan said that for some people in the Diocese of Ferns the economic recovery is patchy and for many it does not exist at all.
In comments read out at masses over the past weekend, he said the generosity of the people of the Diocese regarding the annual Saint Vincent de Paul collection, which is due to take place next weekend (December 3 and 4) is heartening and deserves praise.
However, he said that ‘speaking with the members of the Society this year, one phrase that has stayed with me is a particularly striking one – the recovery, though welcome where it exists, is patchy - and for many it does not exist at all.
‘I would ask that you might reflect with me upon that statement as the good and generous people who are the volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul continue to reach out to and assist the 3000 families in County Wexford who look to them for help,’ he said.