Fears are growing in the Welsh town of Holyhead that its busy port may not reopen next week.
The berth is not expected to reopen before 20 December at the earliest while damage caused during Storm Darragh last weekend continues to be assessed.
But residents are now concerned the facility may not be operational by this date and are worried that the ongoing closure of the port will impact on their businesses and livelihoods at a critical time of the year.
The Minister of State at the Department of Transport here has already said confidence in that date is "low".
James Lawless said said there is a limit to what he can do, but said he has signed a derogation order on driver hours for the next 14 days, which, he said, will give some leeway to the haulage industry.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, Mr Lawless said that the latest estimate for the port's repair is a week away and it is a case of "hope for the best, but plan for the worst".
"There are underwater crews investigating it, and if that comes good, great, but we need to focus in the intervening time on other routes," he said.
Mr Lawless said he has engaged with his counterpart in Wales, Ken Skates, and is working alongside the ferry companies.
"Typically, 33,000 vehicles would come across from Holyhead to Dublin in the Christmas period, it’s about 100,000 passengers, over half of them would come by car, but some would come on foot.
"I’ve said to the NTA and my Welsh counterparts that we need to make sure that sufficient public transport is in place, so if your typical foot passenger is trying to make that journey next week, that there will be a bus service in place."
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Locals in Holyhead are also speculating that the damage may be worse than originally anticipated and the closure may last longer.
Christopher Williams lives near to the port. He runs a photography business specialising in weddings, but he previously worked for Stena Line and describes himself as a "ship enthusiast", who likes to photograph the fleet in Holyhead.
He decided to take these photographs of the stricken berth after becoming concerned about the extent of the damage.
Mr Williams said optimism "remains high" that the port can reopen next week, but warned that a continuing closure could be "massively detrimental" to the town.
He said those living and working in the town are anxious at the possibility of redundancies if the port remains closed for any kind of prolonged period.
He described the closure as "unprecedented" for the town.
The pictures taken by Mr Williams over the past few days, show a substantial part of the berth used by Irish Ferries vessels in the water.
The piece that has been damaged is a platform holding one of the dolphins which a ship uses as a buffer when it pulls alongside.
Thousands of passengers are due to travel between the UK and Ireland on the Holyhead route over Christmas.
Stena Line said it is in the process of contacting all affected customers who have booked to travel between now and 20 December. It said it has also added a new route from Fishguard to Dublin.
Irish Ferries said it is deploying ships on alternative routes to boost capacity and has added more space on the Rosslare to Pembroke route.
