Glenn Carr

Glenn Carr is General Manager of Rosslare Europort. The Europort is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeasternmost point of the island of Ireland, handling passenger and freight ferries to and from Fishguard and Pembroke Dock in the UK, to Cherbourg and Dunkirk in France and to Bilbao in Spain. Carr is responsible for the crucially important increase in direct routes and frequencies of sailings from Rosslare to the European mainland for 2021 (500% increase on 2019).

The direct routes to the European continent are of strategic importance to Ireland in view of Brexit. Carr gave evidence to the Joint Committee of both houses of the Irish Parliament on Transport and Communications Networks on 2 December 2020 concerning Rosslare's preparations for Brexit, and highlighted both the increased services to Europe and the smooth transition on services to and from the UK in the new post Brexit environment. He also gave a detailed account of preparations for Brexit on 25 September 2019 to the Irish Senate Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
As a result of Brexit, the port is expanding rapidly, providing new or increased direct sailings from Ireland to mainland Europe. Carr has received extensive media attention due to new routes to Dunkirk and increased services to Cherbourg. In interviews with RTE, Carr has emphasised the importance for Ireland of having increased direct services to the European mainland. The routes between Ireland and the continent allow freight transport firms to bypass the UK land bridge, in case there is severe congestion at British ports after 1 January 2021. In an interview with the BBC Carr said he believes it is inevitable there will be huge delays because of Brexit and that Rosslare Port will offer the highest number of direct roll-on roll-off services to and from Ireland to the continent. Carr says that the new routes and increased sailings offer Irish industry a vital post-Brexit connection with landbridge free access to the continent of Europe and anticipates one-third of the lorries going to Europe from Ireland will use Rosslare, taking the pressure off Dublin Port. Carr projects a 40%-50% increase in the volume of freight units coming through Rosslare. According to Carr, the Dunkirk route is quicker than using the British landbridge taking account of the paperwork and customs checks caused by Brexit.
Passenger ferries from Rosslare operate to and from Fishguard (Stena Line) and Pembroke Dock (Irish Ferries) in Wales, and to Cherbourg (Stena Line) in France. Brittany Ferries operate from Rosslare to Bilbao in Spain, and Cherbourg. DFDS operates a freight only service from Rosslare to Dunkirk. The rapid growth in 2020 of routes and frequency of sailings to the European continent occurred on Carr's watch and will require skillful marketing and management. The biggest challenge facing the port is to expand to deal with container traffic and provide the necessary infrastructure.
The success of Rosslare in attracting new routes and greater frequencies from 2021 contrasts with the bleak outlook in December 2018 when Irish Ferries announced the end of its direct services connecting the Wexford port to France, leaving Rosslare with only one route to the continent. Carr immediately started talks with other companies stressing in numerous media interviews the potential of the Europort in light of Brexit, as the closest Irish port to mainland Europe, with direct sailings from Ireland. Carr highlighted Rosslare's proximity to Dublin and better road connections so that Rosslare Europort could relieve congestion at Dublin Port. He also underlined Rosslare's designation as a border inspection post in 2019. Carr's ceaseless activity promoting Rosslare paid off dramatically in 2020. In January 2020, Brittany Ferries announced a new twice weekly service to Bilbao; the first sailing was on 28 February 2020. On 27 November 2020, DFDS announced a new six-times weekly freight-only service to Dunkirk and on 10 December 2020, Stena Line announced an additional vessel on the Rosslare to Cherbourg route and the doubling of weekly sailings. As a result, as of 2 January 2021, Rosslare offers 14 sailings each week to the European mainland, and 15 sailings from March 2021, totaling 30 direct services to and from Rosslare to the Continent weekly in 2021. In a perceptive article, The Times highlighted Carr's role in this annus mirabilis for Rosslare Europort and contrasted it with the bleak outlook at the end of 2018.
Independent TD Verona Murphy, a former President of the Irish Road Haulage Association, praised Carr for his ongoing work with stakeholders in developing the port into Ireland's gateway with Europe.
References

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu