Some things to consider before taking your car on the ferry to France.
The holiday begins once you drive on board the Saint Killian car ferry in Rosslare. Presenters Paddy McClintock and Rosemary Smith take to the dance floor at the disco that is part of the musical entertainment on offer.
For those thinking of taking the car to Europe there are serious things to consider ahead of driving on the continent. A quick visual survey of vehicles on board the Saint Killian heading to Le Harve finds that 14 out of 50 cars had out of date tax discs. Eight vehicles had broken head or rear lights and three had damaged number plates.
It's fun going abroad, but it's also a responsibility.
Two of the passengers Colette and Dónall Farmer are no strangers to television. Colette works as a producer at RTÉ and Dónall is an actor. Driving a Renault 4L they have three children with them for their holiday. The plan is to drive to the north east of France and on into Belgium. Prior to embarking on their journey, Colette, who is the principal driver, had a very comprehensive service done to the car. She has followed the advice of the Automobile Association (AA) that lights are correctly adjusted using the orange filters. When packing for the trip they made not to overloaded the car. Colette has driven in Europe before, and has experience of driving on the right-hand side of the road.
Another group of four are travelling together and each is insured to drive on the continent. Their vehicle is just nine months old and was serviced before travelling. They had hoped not to face any problems but broke a windscreen in an accident on route to Rosslare.
This episode of 'Motorways' was broadcast on 7 August 1980. The presenters are Paddy McClintock and Rosemary Smith.
Colette Farmer worked on 'The Late Late Show' and is the Colette behind the famous Gay Byrne instruction 'Roll it there Collette'. Dónall Farmer went on to play Fr Tim Devereux in the RTÉ rural drama series 'Glenroe'.
