Stormy weather brought major disruption to public transport services yesterday.
Trains, ferries and aircraft were all running behind schedule or were cancelled because of severe flooding.
Ferry passengers for Rosslare found themselves back in Fishguard when the Stena Koningin Beatrix was unable to dock at Rosslare. The ferry had left Fishguard at 3.15 a.m. yesterday and was due to dock at Rosslare at about 7 a.m. However, after repeated attempts to dock, the ferry had to return to Fishguard.
Stena Link's fast ferry from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead was cancelled yesterday and remains cancelled today but the conventional ferry from Dublin to Holyhead was due to sail last night. "Timetables have gone out the window," a Stena Link spokesman said. Intending passengers should contact Stena Link at 012047799 before preparing to travel.
Irish Ferries passengers have experienced similar disruption but the company was hoping to sail its cruise ferry from Dublin Port to Holyhead today. Passengers should ring Irish Ferries 24hour information line at 016610715.
Dublin's Heuston station was deserted yesterday as all train services were cancelled due to severe flooding at Hazelhatch in Kildare.
Today Iarnrod Eireann is offering a limited service from Kildare to Cork, Tralee and Waterford. However, feeder buses will not be available because of the flooded roads.
Rail services on the Sligo line were cancelled yesterday and remain cancelled today due to severe flooding from the canal at several points.
The Belfast line remains open and services to Drogheda and Dundalk are also expected to run today. The service from Cork to Cobh and Cork to Tralee is also running today.
The DART service was limited yesterday but is now running from Howth to Bray.
Information on train and DART services is available at 1850 366222. CIE and Dublin Bus services worked through the disruption but with delays. In some cases, buses had to be diverted from their normal routes because of impassable roads.
There was major disruption at Dublin Airport where most passengers experienced a wait of two or more hours for flights in and out of the airport. Some transatlantic flights were diverted to Shannon and Manchester when landing proved too dangerous at Dublin Airport.
Aer Rianta reported that a number of flights had been cancelled to destinations such as the Isle of Man, Jersey and Galway. "These are all small aircraft and so would have had more problems in these conditions," said a spokeswoman for Aer Rianta.
A Ryanair spokeswoman said no flights had been cancelled but passengers were experiencing delays of about one hour.
The Aer Rianta spokeswoman said Dublin Airport expected the delays to continue today, as Met Eireann had not forecast an improvement in weather conditions. The bad weather conditions in the UK are also having a knock-on effect on Irish flights as UK schedules have been upset.
Meanwhile, ESB emergency crews have continued to repair lines which have been damaged by fallen trees and wind-blown debris. According to the ESB, over 10,000 customers were reconnected on Sunday night and almost 7,000 more were expected to be reconnected by late last night. The ESB has appealed to anyone who sees a fallen line to report it immediately to the ESB or Garda. It has also warned people to stay away from fallen lines.
