First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford has held a bilateral meeting with the Irish Foreign Minister amid reports that Brexit is damaging the ferry port of Holyhead.

As Nation.Cymru reports, Drakeford discussed the port with Simon Coveney, who has said they’re looking at ways to support traders because of the implications of the trade agreement between the UK and the EU.

The deal signed by Boris Johnson’s Tory government means firms going through the Welsh port have to deal with filling in forms and exporters going through it to transport goods into Ireland are bracing themselves for tailbacks caused by the new regime.

There have also been reports of exporters bypassing Holyhead altogether by taking goods from the continent straight to Rosslare Harbour so they can avoid dealing with the layer of new bureaucracy.

It has seen a six-fold increase in business thanks to Brexit, and in (mid January), Rosslare received (temporaily) a new vessel from the ferry operator Stena which had been reassigned from the Belfast-Birkenhead (Liverpool) route.

More from the Wales-Ireland news story here. 

Afloat highlights that the new ferry, Stena Embla had yet to enter on the Irish Sea route until an inaugural sailing took place last night on the route linking Laganside and Merseyside. 

#FerryNews - Trucks in their hundreds roll off the docks at Holyhead every day, bringing goods to and from Ireland in an economic lifeline for this deprived corner of Wales, which is now threatened by Brexit, reports France24. 

Just 73 miles (117 kilometres) from the Irish capital Dublin, the port's future will depend on how any Brexit deal affects two borders -- the one between EU member state Ireland and Britain and the one between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.

The concern for many here is that companies will start finding alternative trade routes for goods travelling between Ireland and continental Europe to avoid Britain after Brexit.

With negotiators still at loggerheads in Brussels ahead of a key EU summit on Wednesday and Thursday, concern about increased checks is already forcing some companies to change tack.

Ray Cole, transport director at Virginia International Logistics, said his company was already using the service from Dublin to Cherbourg in France "whenever we can".

The cost for Holyhead, Britain's second biggest roll-on/roll-off terminal after Dover and an area that voted narrowly to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum, would be high.

"The problem that we have, it could affect jobs," said Michael Hartnett, a 50-year-old Irish truck driver. Port users had "zero information" about what Brexit deal to expect, he added.

The port sustains 650 jobs directly, according to Carwyn Jones, (First Minister of Wales: see Dun Laoghaire RMS Leinster story) and councillor on the island of Anglesey where Holyhead is located. Jones said the port was "absolutely crucial here to us".

At three-and-a-half hours, the link is the fastest between the Republic of Ireland and Britain, making Holyhead a key hub for major industries such as agri-foods, automobiles and medicine.

To read more including the costs potentially facing Holyhead but also a potential return of ferries operating duty free, click here.