Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

RBC Brewin Dolphin proudly supporting Afloat and Irish Boating

Irish Ferries News
Isle of Innisfree operates the Rosslare-Pembroke Dock route, where the oldest ferry in the fleet was introduced in 2024, having initially served the company’s Dover-Calais link.
Irish Continental Group (ICG), owner of Irish Ferries, has generated revenues of €138.6m for the year to date (up to May 2). That figure is nearly 17% up for the same period last year, according to the Dublin-listed group’s latest…
Robust growth at ICG was reported for 2025, in a year that also saw a significant strategic milestone with the acquisition of a Baltic Sea cruise ferry, Star 1, which resumed its name James Joyce in May, following a charter in 2023 from Tallink Grupp, when it was originally named Oscar Wilde, initially serving Rosslare-Pembroke. Since its reintroduction on Dublin-Holyhead, Afloat also highlights, it currently handles weekend round trips on the capital-continental connection to Cherbourg, France, before the ropax Isle of Inisheer returns next week  (joining W.B. Yeats) following a routine dry-docking at Dunkirk East.
Maritime transport operator Irish Continental Group (ICG), owner of Irish Ferries, has said that revenue and profit rose in 2025, with growth across both its passenger and freight divisions. The Dublin-listed group reported revenue of €666.7 million, a 10.4 percent…
Celebrations abound as Irish Ferries wins Ferry Company of the Year for the fourteenth consecutive year. Above Oscar Wilde, which recently returned from dry dock, operates the Dover-Calais route along with the Isle of Inishmore, which is currently receiving routine maintenance.
Irish Ferries has won the prestigious Ferry Company of the Year award at the Irish Travel Industry Awards (ITIA). “Complacency never sets in, and we never take industry recognition for granted.” These were the words of Irish Ferries’ Managing Director,…
The smallest ferry of the Irish Ferries fleet, the 22,152-ton ropax Isle of Inisheer, has recently taken over the roster of cruise ferry James Joyce on the Dublin-Holyhead route due to annual dry-docking at Harland & Wolff, Belfast. The freight-oriented vessel with its twin funnels is seen in Dublin Bay when off the Baily Lighthouse, can take 589 passengers and 91 lorries, and has vehicle lane space of 1,950 metres.
Irish Ferries cruise ferry Ulysses, now in its 25th year in service, recently returned from a routine annual overhaul at Harland & Wolff Belfast, which led fleetmate James Joyce to follow suit to the shipyard, writes Jehan Ashmore. Both cruise…
Irish Ferries boss Eamonn Rothwell increases his stake in Irish Continental, controlling 21.65% of the group, which also has container and terminal divisions.  Above Ulysses, which Afloat highlights this year, celebrates its 25th year since its introduction on the Dublin-Holyhead route in 2001. Currently, the 50,938-ton cruise ferry is undergoing routine dry-docking at Harland & Wolff, Belfast (Navantia UK), having arrived yesterday.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Continental Group (ICG), Eamonn Rothwell, has raised his stake in the ferry, freight transport, and terminal business to almost 22%. The stock exchange shows under new filings that the 70-year-old CEO has lifted…
Major disruption: Since the early hours of Saturday morning, no sailings have taken place on Ireland-South Wales routes between Rosslare and Pembroke Dock (Irish Ferries) and Rosslare-Fishguard (Stena Line). The disruption has resulted in passengers and freight having to divert to other routes due to a combination of adverse weather conditions, operational reasons, ferry reshuffles, and routine annual dry-dockings (among them of the above Isle of Innisfree as captured last month bound for Pembroke). The next nearest alternative route is Dublin-Holyhead, where the port in North Wales has been beset again, as last week damage was caused to one of two ferry terminals,  so the port remains open, albeit partially.
Last night an Irish Ferries cruise ferry, Isle of Innisfree, was tracked underway on the English Channel, having departed Dunkirk (East) and fresh from planned dry-docking, bound for the Irish Sea to resume routine sailings, writes Jehan Ashmore. The former…
Irish Ferries has been voted 'Best Ferry Company’ at the annual Irish Travel Trade News (ITTN) awards. Above: the cruise ferry Oscar Wilde on the company’s UK-France route of Dover-Calais. Last Sunday (30 Nov.) marked 125 years since the passing of Oscar Wilde, one of Ireland’s most brilliant writers. The 'Spirit' class, and former Spirit of Britain, has been in service since 2024 and is on bareboat charter and purchase obligation from DP World, owner of P&O Ferries, which operates its twin, Spirit of France, on the premier short-sea route.
Irish Ferries has won its 18th successive ‘Best Ferry Company’ award at the annual Irish Travel Trade News (ITTN) awards. The multi-award-winning ferry company operates on routes between Ireland and Britain (Dublin to Holyhead and Rosslare to Pembroke), Ireland and…
Trading Update: Revenues at Irish Ferries, part of ICG, were up 6.3% over the first 10 months of 2025, while its container and terminal revenues jumped 16.2% and 16.2%, respectively. Above W.B. Yeats at Dublin, fresh from annual dry-docking maintenance in Dunkirk, France, has today (26 Nov.) resumed service with the cruise ferry arriving at Cherbourg. During its absence, for a period, Ulysses from Dublin-Holyhead covered crossings and the Ireland-France routes ropax Isle of Inisheer; however, recent adverse weather has caused disruption and cancelled sailings.
Irish Ferries' parent owner, Irish Continental Group (ICG), says revenues have risen with a 10% jump for the first 10 months of the year to €573 million, despite a decline in car volumes. The Dublin-listed group, in a trading update…
Afloat tracked today Irish Ferries' Rosslare-Pembroke Isle of Innisfree, which transited the Strait of Dover, where the company also operates to Calais on the UK-France route served by Isle of Inishmore and Oscar Wilde. The Isle of Innisfree had previously served on the link, was bound for Dunkirk for a planned dry-docking where another fleetmate, W.B. Yeats, is, but otherwise connects Cherbourg and Dublin. The ‘Innisfree’ under another guise with a previous Strait operator, DFDS/LD Lines, whose first sailing was celebrated with a launch by the UK celebrity Kelly Brooks.
The Isle of Innisfree was offshore of Boulogne-sur-Mer, approaching the Strait of Dover today, and among the Irish Ferries fleet, two ships serve the busy UK-France route linking Calais, writes Jehan Ashmore. The mid-afternoon's transit of the Isle of Innisfree…
At Rosslare, Oscar Wilde, in its original Irish Ferries guise, was renamed James Joyce during its charter of 20 months. After the charter ceased, the ship returned to Baltic Sea owners briefly before returning to the Irish Sea earlier this year when ICG acquired the vessel. From today, the ship, is covering for the first time the Rosslare-Pembroke ferry, Isle of Innisfree (during dry-docking), which ICG also purchased, having made its debut last year.
Irish Ferries' second cruise ferry on the Dublin-Holyhead route, which repositioned overnight to Rosslare, departed almost three hours late following its entry in a relief role to Pembroke Dock today, writes Jehan Ashmore. The former Star 1 of the A/S…
Strong northeasterly winds reaching gale force 8, associated with Storm Claudia across the Irish Sea, have severely affected this morning’s Dublin to Holyhead sailings, forcing Ulysses and Stena Adventurer to shelter off Anglesey, which they continue to do this afternoon, while another ferry had to divert to Fishguard. Above: the Ulysses in previous stormy weather at the Anglesey port, which almost a year ago was struck by Storm Darragh, during which ferries caused damage to the port terminal that led to a temporary closure in the run-up to Christmas, causing widespread disruption to passengers and freight.
A Stena Line ferry sailing from Dublin Port in the early hours of this morning bound for Holyhead was forced to make a diversion to Fishguard in South Wales, where it arrived some six hours late, writes Jehan Ashmore. Stena…
“The
The ferry route between Dublin Port and the Port of Holyhead could serve as one of Europe’s first dedicated green shipping corridors, according to a new study. The study also identified green methanol as a suitable candidate fuel for the…
Irish Ferries cruise ferry James Joyce re-entered service in May to become one of three vessels operating the Dublin-Holyhead route during the peak season.
The owner of Irish Ferries, the Irish Continental Group (ICG), has reported a jump in pre-tax profits as well as higher revenues this year for the six-month period to the end of June. Dublin-based ICG said its pre-tax profits soared…
Storm Imogen had winds of a constant 60 knots with gusts of 105 knots at times
A former NBC war correspondent has been awarded €17,500 damages against Irish Ferries for her experience on a ferry trip from Cherbourg to Dublin almost ten years ago. As RTÉ News reports, Susan Burt ( 75) told the Circuit Civil…
 Duty-free day trips for foot passengers are available on Irish Ferries routes to Wales, with fares for adults and children on the Dublin-Holyhead and Rosslare-Pembroke. Above the Isle of Innisfree, which operates the southern Irish Sea route to Wales.
Summer is here, and so are the duty-free day trips offered by Irish Ferries on its routes to Wales, with foot-passenger return fares starting at €10 for adults and €5 for children. The duty-free day trips are available on the…
Irish Continental Group (ICG), parent company of Irish Ferries, saw a marginal decrease in its ferry division due to a ‘detrimental impact’ from the Holyhead port closure; however, the company looks forward to the full reopening of the North Wales port on 1 July. Above the newly acquired James Joyce which as Afloat reported entered service this week on the Dublin route.
Irish Ferries, which is owned by the Irish Continental Group (ICG), has said its revenue grew 7.1 percent for the months between January and April this year. The growth in these four months of the Dublin-based maritime group was driven…

About Irish Ferries

Irish Ferries, owned by the Irish Continental Group, is a a major ferry operator in Ireland, providing daily and weekly links to and from Ireland for tourism and freight travelling between Ireland and the UK and Ireland and the continent. Irish Ferries has a fleet of six ships, three of which service the busy Dublin to Holyhead route.

The ICG Chairman is John B McGuckian and the CEO is Eamon Rothwell.