Irish trade links vital for county (From Western Telegraph)

Irish trade links vital for county

FIRST MINISTER Rhodri Morgan stressed the importance of trade with Ireland when he visited Pembrokeshire on Friday.

At the launch of Atlantic Industry's new Port of Pembroke chill store, Mr Morgan said Pembrokeshire was ideally placed for doing business between the key dairy markets of Southern Ireland and West Wales.

The chill store will allow the company, whose main client is Dairy Crest, to install a mobile racking system, maximising storage space and making the company more competitive.

The £190,000 project was made possible with the help of the Pembrokeshire Business Initiative (PBI) and funding from the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and the Milford Haven Port Authority.

The First Minister released 200 green balloons to symbolise the company's new marketing initiative, which aims to attract Irish business. Before arriving at the port, Mr Morgan was taken on a tour to view the proposed site of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage terminal at Waterston.

Another LNG site may be on the cards at the former Esso refinery at Herbrandston.

Mr Morgan said: "We could do with both of them, but we may not get both. It would be a healthy thing for Wales and the UK if LNG could come in through the Milford Haven Waterway.

"I hope that will induce Transco to extend its National Transmission System from the Swansea Valley area to Pembrokeshire.

"Investment from Transco, Petroplus and ExxonMobil would be the triple crown - probably the only one we have a chance of winning."

He welcomed the work of the Townscape Heritage Initiative, saying towns like Pembroke Dock could benefit greatly from sympathetic refurbishment rather than modernisation.

Mr Morgan said he hoped the 'commercial clout' of Vertex - which recently took over from 7C as a partner in running the Pembroke Dock Call Centre - would bring in contracts to 'fill every seat in the building'.

CAPTION

First Minister Rhodri Morgan and Atlantic Industry's managing director, Andrew Jardine, release a flock of balloons, symbolising Pembrokeshire's trade links with Ireland. PICTURE: Martin Cavaney Photography.