Ireland and France: Connected by Sea
Brexit has had a profound and positive effect on connectivity between Ireland and France.
There are now over 40 maritime connections, an increase from just 12 direct sailings in 2020, providing increased daily connectivity between our two countries.
Dublin and Rosslare are now linked to:
- Dunkirk
- Le Havre
- Cherbourg
- Roscoff
with growing passenger capacity developing on these new routes.
'Gateway regions'
The greater frequency of sailings and the ease of trading goods within the EU’s Single Market has led to a shift in logistic patterns that have made the Brittany, Normandy, and Hauts-de-France ‘gateway regions’ for exporters to and from Ireland and France.
This momentum has consolidated Ireland’s political, business, and cultural relationships with these regions and allowed the Embassy to explore new opportunities for tourism, trade, cultural, and educational partnerships.
Trade missions
Particular emphasis on our relations with the port cities and their hinterlands, which are fast becoming the hubs for France’s offshore renewable energy industry. In 2022, the Ambassador led trade visits to Saint Malo, Cherbourg, Brest, and Roscoff, in partnership with Enterprise Ireland France and their client companies and stakeholders from Ireland.
A sign of the further deepening of these links with these gateway regions was the historic opening of Ireland’s first diplomatic representation in Brittany with the nomination of Mr Jean-Marc Roué as Honorary Consul.
History of maritime connections
To mark the opening of the Honorary Consulate, the Embassy organised a trade mission to the Port of Brest. A promotional programme in Roscoff was led by Minister James Browne TD and including meetings with Regional President Loïg Chesnais-Girard and national parliamentarians from the region. The Irish Naval Service marked a long history of maritime connections to Brittany with a visit by the LÉ Róisín.
Outdoor concert
An open-air concert by Cork group Torcán, organised by Tourism Ireland had people dancing in the streets on Roscoff. The front page of the regional paper Le Télégramme captured the real potential of these new relationships in the headline: “L’Irlande, une chance pour la Bretagne”.