Road blockades threatened by French truckers seem certain to go ahead tomorrow. Irish hauliers, who lost £6 million in last year's disruption in France, say they stand to lose £500,000 for each day the strike lasts.
It is understood that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has written to the French Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, stressing the importance of the French market to Irish exporters.
Central Statistics Office figures yesterday showed Irish exports to France for the first half of the year were £1.26 billion, or nearly 10 per cent of all exports. The main categories were computers, pharmaceuticals, veal, lamb, fish and textiles. Exporters said the shipping of dry goods could be postponed for a time but any blockade would cause difficulties for exporters of fresh produce.
French truck-drivers' leaders and employers sat down again last night in another attempt to conclude a deal that will save Europe from a crippling strike.
But the French government was warning its neighbours that the action, due to start at 10 p.m. tomorrow, would mean chaos on roads all over Europe.
More than 180 road blocks are planned throughout France, concentrating mainly on ports, major road junctions and border crossings.
The truckers are claiming their employers have reneged on the terms of the deal which ended last year's strike.
Road transport firms across Europe yesterday asked the French government to suspend weekend driving restrictions so thousands of foreign trucks can get out of the country before they are trapped by the truckers' strike.
Under French law, the truckers are not allowed to travel at weekends. The government refused to grant the waiver.
Producers of Beaujolais Nouveau wine have begun dispatching their product early to avoid roadblocks if the truckers' strike starts tomorrow.
Makers of the wine, traditionally launched on the third Thursday in November, began sending cases this week. Normally the first bottles of the fresh red wine would be held in secure warehouses until November 14th, ahead of the traditional launch, this year on November 20th.
The Irish Road Haulage Association yesterday urged members of keep detailed records if they are blockaded in France. Its spokesman, Mr Jimmy Quinn, said they were suing the French government for the £6 million their members lost in the last strike.
He said the French authorities were being highly bureaucratic about demanding evidence that an Irish trucker had been stranded in a particular French blockade. France has not paid a penny in compensation to Irish haulage firms, he said.
The Minister for Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, yesterday wrote to the French Minister for Transport, Mr Jean-Claude Gayssot, stressing the urgency of reaching a quick resolution to the dispute.
The chief executive of the Irish Exporters' Association, Mr Colum McDonnell, said it was a serious matter that Irish exporters were facing a third French truckers' strike in three years.
IBEC`s transport council said any blockades by French hauliers would have negative repercussions for Irish companies, particularly where products were perishable or had a short shelf-life.