IRHA annual conference

The Irish Road Haulage Association’s Annual Conference takes place this weekend at the Rochestown Hotel in Cork.

More than 200 members of the association are expected to attend the three-day conference, which gets underway on Friday (March 25).
Association president Eamonn Morrissey will open the conference on Friday evening. Munster Fianna Fail MEP Brian Crowley will address the delegates on Saturday evening, while Minister of Sate at the Department of Transport, Ivor Callely, will give the keynote speech on Sunday.

Some of the contentious issues that will be debated at this year’s conference include: unlicensed carriers, increasing fuel costs and unnecessary traffic delays caused by a variety of factors on Irish roads

The delegates will also get their teeth stuck into such topics as the Indecon report, road safety, delays to motorway projects, shipping routes capacity, toll charges, mobile technology for fleet management, insurance costs, skills shortages, membership drive and spiralling fuel costs.

Outing president Eamonn Morrissey is looking forward to the conference. He told www.iristrucker.com, "To realise the potential of the road haulage industry the IRHA wants to work closely with the Department of Transport to finally solve some of these problems.”

“The industry is the main driver in our economy and employs in excess of 100,000 people, so we want the “Knights of the Road” to be taken seriously by Government,” he added.

The association will unveil 22-point working document at the conference, which has been agreed with the Department of Transport, with a view to stabilising and regulating the industry.