Sir, - The recent bad weather has revealed just how difficult it is to obtain information about ferry travel and road conditions.
Visitors of ours wishing to return to Britain, with a deadline for medical reasons, found that telephone lines were either constantly engaged or unmanned after hours. The AA is not listed in the 02 directory and when, after great difficulty, AA Roadwatch was contacted, the information necessary to complete a journey from Kerry to Rosslare was incomplete.
Aertel, which could have been the ideal medium for vital information on delays, cancellations and altered sailing times, carried only offers and prices to various ports but no immediate news helpful to anxious would-be travellers. Irish Ferries and Stena Line have Aertel pages, but Swansea-Cork Ferry was either absent or very well hidden. Not everyone has access to the Internet, and there seems little point to the Aertel facility on television unless the information it provides is frequently updated as well as pertinent. - Yours, etc.,
John A. Cullinane, Coolroe Heights, Ballincollig, Cork.