Strike hits Irish Sea ferries

Irish Ferries said services would be back to normal from 0600 GMT on Friday

Irish Ferries' sailings to Holyhead and Pembroke were cancelled on Thursday after 1,000 ferry workers held a 24-hour strike.

Hundreds marched on Ireland's parliament in Dublin.

Union officials warned of a indefinite strike from Monday over plans to lay off 150 staff on the French route.

The company, which said the action was "illegal," said passengers were diverted onto rival carriers and services would resume on Friday.

Irish Ferries said the Dublin to Holyhead cruise ferry, the Holyhead to Dublin Swift fast ferry and the Rosslare to Pembroke services were affected.

The company said it "deeply regrets and apologies for the disruption and inconvenience which this action will cause to customers".

It expected that services would be fully operating from 0600 GMT on Friday.

Meanwhile, Ireland's Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), has called for Irish Ferries to reverse its plan to lay off about 150 workers on its French route and outsource the jobs to foreign workers.

"We will mount an all-out strike until this issue is resolved," said SIPTU branch secretary Paul Smyth.

Irish Ferries suspended its French services on Tuesday for the winter and plans to relaunch them in the spring using workers contracted from a foreign employment agency.

The union claimed it had failed to negotiate and was seeking to exploit foreign workers on short-term contracts.

The Irish Continental Group PLC, the parent company of Irish Ferries, said Thursday's strike was illegal because it was called before any mediation by the government-appointed Labour Relations Commission or Labour Court.