Irish and British holidaymakers breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when shortly after lunchtime the blockade of French ports, which caused serious disruption to travel plans, was lifted.
Industry sources also welcomed the resolution of the dispute which they said had the potential to be extremely damaging both to imports and exports.
French fishermen were picketing several ports, including Cherbourg - the main transit point to Ireland - for a second day in protest at the rising price of fuel when the French government agreed to compensate them for the increased costs of marine diesel.
The dispute had resulted in Irish holidaymakers in France having to drive for five hours from Cherbourg to Roscoff to catch their Irish Ferries sailing on Tuesday night and their arrival in Rosslare was delayed by about nine hours. Outbound passengers travelling from Rosslare to France were also delayed on Wednesday night and were rerouted to Brest.
Last night a spokesman for Irish Ferries confirmed that from this afternoon all sailings will return to normal. The blockade had been frustrating both for Irish Ferries and its passengers. "What we would like to see happen is the governments of Europe getting together with the French government to ensure something like this never happens again," he said.
A Government spokesman welcomed the lifting of the blockade. He said the Irish embassy in Paris had contacted the French Minister for Agriculture, Mr Jean Glavany, to express the Government's concern and to urge a speedy resolution of the matter.
Meanwhile, the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, has called on the EU to impose special sanctions on those who block Europe's highways, airports or ports. He said if sanctions were not imposed, there was an incentive to repeat blockades of this kind.
"Vehicles or ships used to block highways, airports or ports should be capable of being legally seized and sold to pay compensation to those who can show that they have been injured by the blockade. This should be provided for in an EU directive," he said.
"Furthermore, there should be a link between eligibility of a country for EU structural funds for its roads, ports and airports, and its ability and willingness to keep those open for the use of EU citizens."
The president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Mr Gerry McMahon, welcomed the end of the blockade. Many of the association's members had been delayed in taking produce to and from the continent but goods had not been lost as a result, he confirmed.
The chief executive of the association representing meat processing plants in the Republic, the Irish Meat Association, Mr John Smith, said the dispute had caused considerable disruption and led to the late delivery of meat to destinations in France, the State's fourth largest export market.
Estimates put the cost to British industry of the protest at £5 million, in addition to the misery caused to returning families left queuing for hours to get home.