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Displaying items by tag: IrishUK trade

Ireland will never return to the type of trading relationship it enjoyed with Britain prior to Brexit, a leading customs official said on Monday as he warned of potential disruption for exporters.

Speaking at a briefing held at Dublin Port, Tom Talbot, head of Revenue’s customs operations (story), said ports were dealing well with post-Brexit border checks on goods coming from Britain into the Republic.

Just over two months since the introduction of border controls on imports following Britain’s exit from the European Union, Mr Talbot said traffic was still significantly lower than for the same period a year ago, which he attributed to a number of factors including stockpiling ahead of Brexit and the impact of store closures due to the Covid lockdown.

Checks

He said that currently about 80 per cent of all freight from Britain is being “green-routed”, meaning they can immediately proceed on their journey. Of the other 20 per cent, most of this is “orange-routed”, meaning document checks are required, while about 4 per cent is “red-routed”, indicating a physical check is necessary.

Mr Talbot said Revenue was happy with the level being achieved so far and said there would never be a day when all UK traffic could be green-routed.

“In practical terms the requirements that now apply to trade with the UK mean that there never will be a scenario that 100 per cent of goods ... will be able to arrive through the port seamlessly as they did when Britain was part of the EU,” said Mr Talbot.

The Irish Times has more including new figures released where from January 1st to February 28th there were 50,800 freight vehicle movements into Ireland from more than 870 ferries from Britain with over 2.6m import declarations processed.

During the same period there were 46,500 movements from the Republic to Britain. And some 320,000 export declarations.

Afloat adds further figures released on 1st March can be consulted on Gov.ie's Operational Update (2 month post-Brexit transition). The update highlights in depth the overall trading /shipping scene with a listing of 10 key headings.  

Published in Irish Ports

#IrishUKTrade - Enterprise Ireland are to seek its clients to be less reliant on the UK markets. The Irish Times writes the reduction will cut the proportion of their exports that go to Britain by about seven percentage points over the next five years, following the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

The agency responsible for helping Irish companies export to international markets, saw exports to the UK increase last year by 12 per cent to €7.5 billion.

The UK remains the Republic’s largest export market, though exports there as a proportion of Enterprise Ireland’s total client exports has declined from 45 per cent in 2005 to 37 per cent in 2015.

Enterprise Ireland UK and northern Europe director Marina Donohoe said on Monday “it would certainly be the intention” to reduce the figure further over the next number of years to mitigate the fallout from the referendum result.

For more on this story, click here.

Published in Ports & Shipping

ESB’s 2040 strategy Driven to Make a Difference: Net Zero by 2040 sets out a clear roadmap for ESB to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. 

ESB will develop and connect renewable energy to decarbonise the electricity system by 2040. ESB will invest in the development of new renewable generation, including onshore and offshore wind and solar, and will significantly increase the amount of renewable generation connected to our electricity networks.

ESB will:

  • Deliver more than a fivefold increase in our renewable generation portfolio to 5,000MW.
  • Reduce carbon intensity of generation fleet from 414 to 140gCO2/kWh by 2030.
  • Decarbonise 63% of our generation output by 2030 and 100% by 2040 (up from c20% now).

Offshore wind

ESB know the importance of offshore wind in tackling climate change and delivering net zero. Ireland has a unique capability given its prime location to take advantage of the potential of offshore wind. ESB are working hard to develop offshore wind projects for the benefit of everyone across society in Ireland and the UK. This includes ongoing engagement with marine users and local communities so ESB can deliver these significant projects.

Offshore wind will play a major role globally in our fight against climate change. It will help to replace energy generated by burning fossil fuels with that from a clean, safe and secure renewable energy source. Ireland’s geographic location on the exposed edge of the Atlantic presents us with a significant opportunity to generate electricity from wind – both offshore and onshore.

Power from onshore wind farms currently provide over one-third of Ireland’s electricity needs. But, whilst its marine area is many times the size of its landmass, Ireland’s offshore wind potential is only starting to be realised. ESB have a coastline stretching over 3,000km but only one operational offshore wind farm – Arklow Bank, with a capacity of 25 MW. In contrast, Belgium’s coastline is only 63km long, but it has already developed more than 2,000 MW of offshore wind. In Great Britain, with a coastline four times the length of ours, offshore wind generation now equates to over 440 Arklow Banks, with an installed capacity of 11,0000 MW as of late 2021.

The Irish Government's target to install 5,000 MW of offshore wind capacity in our maritime area by 2030 is set out in the Climate Action Plan 2021. It also has the objective to source 80% of Ireland’s electricity needs from renewables by the same year. In line with this, ESB is applying its professional and proven engineering expertise to the challenges set within the Climate Action Plan.

ESB are committed to playing a strong role in developing Ireland’s offshore wind potential for the benefit of the people of Ireland. This will be done in consultation with marine users and local communities, and with due care for the marine environment.