Today, I was out and about in the south-east, calling on some of my customers in Wexford and Waterford. As I had one call to do in Arthurstown and then go on to Waterford City, I decided to take the ferry from Ballyhack to Passage East. The alternative is to go back to New Ross and head into Waterford on the N25, a journey of 40-odd km, and a major pain in the hoop, as New Ross can get badly clogged up at this time on a Friday evening.

So ferry I did. There were only a few other vehicles on the vessel as we crossed over. When we arrived in Passage East, we were confronted by a phalanx of protesters, unhappy with the operation of the ferry. Their method was to prevent us from getting off the ferry by standing in our way. The driver in front of me just barged through them, and one protester fell to the ground in his attempt to stop him.

I got out of my car and asked what all of this was about. The reply shouted at me was "Ask FBD." FBD are the people who run the ferry service, and eventually I got the answer from one of the protesters. They want the ferry terminal sited away from the village in order to remove all the traffic.

That's fair enough. It's plain to see that Passage East and the roads around it get choked with traffic generated by the ferry, and there is merit in the argument that the point of embarkation and disembarkation should be moved away from the village. But boy, are they going about it the wrong way.

By blocking people getting on and off the ferry and going about their lawful business, they are just pissing people off. One protester held up a large banner with the words "Children are at risk" on it. Another protester was wheeling her young baby around in a pram. So whatever about children being at risk from the traffic, this child was at risk from being brought into a volatile situation.

They should be trying to get people on their side. Maybe they're taking their cue from this shower of loopers. They are, of course, entitled to protest, but their protest could be a lot more effective. They could get an information sheet printed up and hand it to drivers in the queue for the ferry. They could lobby politicians. They could nominate spokespeople to make their case to the media. The best way to make your case is to make it in a reasonable manner. I knew nothing of this protest or issue before I got on the ferry at Ballyhack. If I was made aware of it before I got on, I may have decided to go the other route. One protester suggested that it was the responsibility of the operators of the ferry to tell those intending to travel of the protest.

Eventually the Gardai came to the quayside and managed to get things moving. Sadly, this sort of nonsense will continue as long as the protesters continue to scream their objections rather than trying to make their case in a reasonable way.