Brexit: Ireland’s land bridge to the continent boosts UK ’emissions’

Dublin-Holyhead ferry link [image credit: Stena Line]

The report below refers to air pollution but ignores carbon dioxide emissions, which are *supposed to be* a much bigger problem according to climate obsessives.
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A no-deal Brexit could cost up to 5,000 jobs in Ireland’s fisheries, but it’s not just access to the UK’s coastal waters that the country is hoping to hold on to in any post-Brexit arrangement, says The Conversation @ Phys.org.

Perhaps more important to Ireland is the UK’s motorway network.

Every year, more than 150,000 trucks transport over 3 million tons of freight to and from Ireland to the rest of the single market across the UK land bridge.

One route involves goods being shipped from Dublin to Holyhead by ferry and then by road to Dover before being shipped to Calais.

It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of this land bridge for Ireland.

A 2017 study found that 40% of Ireland’s exports to the EU reached the continent via the UK’s roads, with an estimated value of €18.2 billion (£16.3 billion).

Journey times to the EU market are less than 20 hours by the land bridge, but up to 40 to 60 hours by sea. That’s why it’s the preferred route for companies moving food, live animals and other high-value goods, such as heavy machinery and transport equipment.

A no-deal outcome could sever Ireland’s most important route to EU markets. But what might the loss of Ireland’s land bridge mean for the UK? Our research has found that it could entail substantial benefits for air quality and roads throughout the country.

Irish freight, British pollution

From January 1 2021, British goods will be treated as third-country freight by the EU, meaning they will be subject to customs and regulatory controls at European ports.

These ports aren’t yet able to differentiate between British and Irish freight, but once they are, a two-speed processing system would ensure Irish trucks are fast tracked through the system and UK trucks subject to regulatory delays.

The Irish government is keen to ensure that the land bridge isn’t considered a major negotiating point in UK-EU trade negotiations.

But for the UK, there is another dimension to the land bridge that has been completely overlooked. All the benefits that come from it accrue to Ireland and the EU, while all the negatives are borne by British citizens and companies.

Full article here.