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A brand new ferry link between France and Ireland set sail on Friday (12 June), marking the return of international passenger services to Boulogne-sur-Mer for the first time in 15 years.
Operated by Hibernia Line, the overnight route to Cork is expected to strengthen tourism and trade links between the two countries – and offer travellers another way to reach continental Europe without passing through the UK.
The route will run six times a day from Monday to Saturday in both directions, between the French port and Ringaskiddy, a village in County Cork.
Ferries will leave Cork at 21:00 GMT and at 22:00 GMT from Boulogne-sur-Mer and take around 21 hours, or 24 hours on Saturday nights.
“It’s truly something very moving; it’s the culmination of years of work, of consultation, of making sure that we could create a route to Ireland from scratch,” wrote the mayor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Frédéric Cuvillier, on his Facebook page.
The journeys will be undertaken using two vessels, called St Patrick and Akka, which both have a passenger capacity of 600, and space for 130 units of freight.
The ships are currently able to accommodate cars and other vehicles, and will host foot passengers from 1 July.
Recently, ferry routes between Ireland and France have become increasingly popular, in part due to companies seeking to bypass the UK to transport goods due to complications surrounding Brexit.
Currently, there are a number of operations running France to Ireland ferries, including Brittany Ferries, Irish Ferries, and DFDS.
The launch is particularly positive for Boulogne, as the boats will be the first international service to dock there for some 15 years.
“I love people who believe in Boulogne,” Cuvillier commented.
Passengers who are non-EU citizens should be aware they’ll be subject to Entry/Exit System (EES) requirements when they arrive at Boulogne-sur-Mer, as Ireland is not a member of the Schengen area, despite it being part of the EU.
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