The Brexit Thread

[Snake Plissken]

It's taken them until now to figure this out?

Daughter of a good friend works fairly high up in Stormont. One of the phrases that has been passed around is "You think these people are incompetent arrogant reality-denying cunts in public? Wait until you get on a Zoom call with them."

[Duncan Gardner]

Ginger Yellow Mandy McAuley is a BBC journalist, often fronting the NI investigative show Spotlight. Of course I realise she probably has less influence on overall editorial line than the Daily Diana or Jewish Comical

[Ginger Yellow]

They (IE a majority of voters in NI, including the organisation and journo quoted) figured it out before June 2016 and voted accordingly

Yeah, I meant the BBC.

[Diable Rouge]

https://twitter.com/PARLYapp/status/1339619169965367298

[Duncan Gardner]

It's taken them until now to figure this out?

They (IE a majority of voters in NI, including the organisation and journo quoted) figured it out before June 2016 and voted accordingly

Thanks to Paul S and Walt FD for the ferry background. Just to stress that the likely A77 gridlock does only inconvenience a few* non-flying eccentrics like me most of the time, Old Firm games obviously excepted

* the Ayr- Cairnryan bus I mentioned has never had more than 10 passengers any time I've used it

[Ginger Yellow]

https://twitter.com/mandy_mcauley/status/1339464456917684225

It's taken them until now to figure this out?

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I heard that Stranraer was uneconomic for Stena and if they didn't move to Cairnryan they would withdraw the route.

That was their pitch - whether it was truly uneconomic or just not making as much money as they might have liked, I don't know - but as you suggest Cairnryan made for a quicker turnaround, lower fuel costs etc so it was obviously to their advantage to move. But as far as I recall no-one was throwing money at them to move, quite the opposite, the local authority was providing favourable terms for them to stay in Stranraer. It's a long time ago now but I think the local authority thought if they moved out of Stranraer they'd operate out of Cairnryan (at little risk to themselves because initially they were to share existing facilities) for a token period, declare that to be uneconomic as well and withdraw altogether.

[Paul S]

The local authority desperately wanted them to stay in Stranraer, and managed to delay the move for a few years (I was involved in it at the time, from the local authority's side of things). In the end there was only so much they could do and Cairnryan is in the same local authority area, and local jobs were preserved so they gave up in the end. In terms of the customs clusterfuck it would have been the same at Stranraer as it is at Cairnryan - as we've said on this thread before the whole area is not set up for it and any sort of delay process will turn it into a lorry park for miles around. That "airport" they are commandeering is just a landing strip for light aircraft.

Can't speak for through the week / late at night but I went on that route on a weekend about 18 months ago and it was very busy with foot passengers and that was without the Old Firm traffic coming in the opposite direction - I believe the coach companies of Galloway do a roaring trade at weekends shuttling fans from the terminal to Ibrox/Parkhead and back.

Back in the day I used to get trains out of Newcastle on a Friday evening and the 'boat train' was always busy with students heading home for the weekend but those days are long gone of course and I'm sure there modern counterparts are keen students of the Easyjet website.

I heard that Stranraer was uneconomic for Stena and if they didn't move to Cairnryan they would withdraw the route.

[anton pulisov]

Lots of fiber in fruit.

edit: yeah forgot to quote the post I was replying to. but i'll just leave it as is

[Aitch]

Fret not, Stena Line and, I think, DFDS are going to start operating direct ferry services from France to Ireland.

[Diable Rouge]

Most Irish goods come through the U.K. as well, so we will likely face shortages too.

Though the ferry services will be ramped up significantly from the New Year. Meanwhile, NI business agencies already face a slash in funding when the source moves from Brussels to Westminster:

https://twitter.com/mandy_mcauley/status/1339464456917684225

[Greenlander]

Spanish fruit companies exporting to the UK are shitting themselves.

A good proportion of our inbound freight traffic from Spain is fruit and veg and there's a decent amount of fish going the other way.

At the moment it takes a maximum of two hours to clear the port and though DEFRA insist they will only make live checks once a month (so one in eight arrivals from Spain) we are still having to build a cold store.

[Greenlander]

I am glad the food confiscated is not binned!

They tried that but customer pressure put a stop to it.

Actually I can afford my own cheese so I'm going to suggested we donate it to the local homeless place, the Shekinah Mission, which is right outside the port.

[Lang Spoon]

Most Irish goods come through the U.K. as well, so we will likely face shortages too.

[Toby Gymshorts]

More a customs one, I'd have thought. If the predicted delays come true you don't really want to be chancing sending perishables to sit on an airstrip for weeks.

[Satchmo Distel]

Youse can forget about off season strawberries or any red peppers etc in Brit supermarkets. And prob in Ireland too unfortunately.

Is this a labour supply issue?

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Stena wanted to introduce bigger ships onto the route but they wouldn't be able to berth in Stranraer as it isn't deep enough but the anchorage at Cairnryan is. Also ships had to slow down slow so much in Loch Ryan to prevent tidal wash damaging the banks it added an extra half an hour to the journey time. So cutting back to Cairnryan meant not only bigger ships but more sailings due to time savings. As for the foot passenger thing, how many foot passengers do you think the ferries carry these days? If it's a dozen on each sailing I'd be surprised, most people find it cheaper and quicker to fly.

The local authority desperately wanted them to stay in Stranraer, and managed to delay the move for a few years (I was involved in it at the time, from the local authority's side of things). In the end there was only so much they could do and Cairnryan is in the same local authority area, and local jobs were preserved so they gave up in the end. In terms of the customs clusterfuck it would have been the same at Stranraer as it is at Cairnryan - as we've said on this thread before the whole area is not set up for it and any sort of delay process will turn it into a lorry park for miles around. That "airport" they are commandeering is just a landing strip for light aircraft.

Can't speak for through the week / late at night but I went on that route on a weekend about 18 months ago and it was very busy with foot passengers and that was without the Old Firm traffic coming in the opposite direction - I believe the coach companies of Galloway do a roaring trade at weekends shuttling fans from the terminal to Ibrox/Parkhead and back.

Back in the day I used to get trains out of Newcastle on a Friday evening and the 'boat train' was always busy with students heading home for the weekend but those days are long gone of course and I'm sure there modern counterparts are keen students of the Easyjet website.

[Moonlight Shadow]

We're ramping up preparations at the docks though fortuantely for us we haven't got any scheduled ferries for the first couple of months in the new year so can watch how Portsmouth and Dover cope before it hits us but one new rule just communicated from DEFRA could lead to some fun and games. From January passengers will not be allowed to take any meat, dairy or plant products into France or Spain so we'll get loads of abuse as perfectly good food is forced to be binned.

Last time this happened was during the foot and mouth epidemic, what, two decades back and was brilliant for us. I don't think any of us had to buy cheese or bacon for weeks. I'm chalking this as a possibly very small and selfish Brexit perk.

I am glad the food confiscated is not binned!

[Lang Spoon]

Youse can forget about off season strawberries or any red peppers etc in Brit supermarkets. And prob in Ireland too unfortunately.

[Paul S]

I don't understand why the ferry companies moved to a port up the road with no infrastructure by it when the Stranraer train pretty much pulls up at the boat. Unless some cunt was throwing them money to relocate to Cairnryan.

Stena wanted to introduce bigger ships onto the route but they wouldn't be able to berth in Stranraer as it isn't deep enough but the anchorage at Cairnryan is. Also ships had to slow down slow so much in Loch Ryan to prevent tidal wash damaging the banks it added an extra half an hour to the journey time. So cutting back to Cairnryan meant not only bigger ships but more sailings due to time savings. As for the foot passenger thing, how many foot passengers do you think the ferries carry these days? If it's a dozen on each sailing I'd be surprised, most people find it cheaper and quicker to fly.

[Sporting]

Spanish fruit companies exporting to the UK are shitting themselves.

[Lang Spoon]

I don't understand why the ferry companies moved to a port up the road with no infrastructure by it when the Stranraer train pretty much pulls up at the boat. Unless some cunt was throwing them money to relocate to Cairnryan.

[Lang Spoon]

An engineer at their Broughton plant who is a friend of the family voted Brexit sure that everything would be sorted out, and confident Airbus wouldn't pull out after all the investments they had made. What a fanny. Ties in with something I think Urus mentioned of Aircraft engineers tending toward paleo conservative bollocks.

[Duncan Gardner]

What trains aren't running to Stranraer any more?

There is still a (skeletal) service to and from Stranraer- Ayr and thence Killie/ Glasgow/ Dumfries, but since the ferries moved to Cairnryan it doesn't include the boat trains

[Greenlander]

We're ramping up preparations at the docks though fortuantely for us we haven't got any scheduled ferries for the first couple of months in the new year so can watch how Portsmouth and Dover cope before it hits us but one new rule just communicated from DEFRA could lead to some fun and games. From January passengers will not be allowed to take any meat, dairy or plant products into France or Spain so we'll get loads of abuse as perfectly good food is forced to be binned.

Last time this happened was during the foot and mouth epidemic, what, two decades back and was brilliant for us. I don't think any of us had to buy cheese or bacon for weeks. I'm chalking this as a possibly very small and selfish Brexit perk.