Newspaper for Ireland's Fishing, Marine & Coastal Communities
Irish Vessels to Be Excluded from 12 Miles Zone Off Rockall
The Scottish Government has declared an exclusive 12- mile zone at Rockall from Friday 7th June 2019, the Minister for the Marine has told Irish fish producer organisations at a meeting in Cork. CEOs of the organisations were called to an urgent meeting. They were told that any Irish vessel fishing in this area is in danger of being arrested by the Scottish authorities. This,, according to the Minister, even though they will have the full support of the Irish government. There has been a long dispute about territorial rights around Rockall. Efforts have been made by the Irish government to stop this action proceeding but were unsuccessful, it is understood.
Coveney and Creed reject Scottish Government’s unilateral threat of “enforcement action” against Irish fishing vessels fishing within 12 miles of Rockall - read reaction here Tom MacSweeney PODCAST
There appears to be, from the contacts I have been receiving over the past few days, increasing concern within the fishing industry about the Government’s commitment to resisting the Scottish threatened action over Rockall. While the initial pressure mounted by the Scottish has appeared to die away with the resistance from the Irish Government, there is now it seems, growing concern about the Dáil statement by the Taoiseach which has been interpreted as a less definitive response than originally given by Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and Marine Minister Michael Creed.
This, it has been claimed in some contacts, does not maintain strongly enough the Irish refusal to cede the British claim to Rockall and territorial rights arising from that.
Fianna Fail’s Marine spokesman Pat The Cope Gallagher has said that the Taoiseach “failed to defend Ireland’s claim to Rockall” and that he was ‘shocked’ by that.
Coincidentally with that the full Agreement signed between the Irish Government and the UK back in June of 2013 was shown to the MARINE TIMES. Signed by the Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore at a time when current Tanaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Coveney, was Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, it set down in detail sea boundaries between the Irish and UK Exclusive Economic Zones.
What is now of concern is the implications arising from that and how they could affect the current dispute and a post-Brexit situation.
While the Rockall controversy has dropped in national media attention, this issue is troubling to the industry, from where one source told me that the “the real truth has not been revealed yet…”
There is a duty, surely, on Government to make the situation clear in relation to the 2013 Agreement.
The Chief executive of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) Francis O’Donnell says that the agreement effectively conceded the rock and its surrounding fisheries area in the North Atlantic to the UK. "After Brexit “we will be losing a fishing zone we have fished for the last 200 years”.
Department of Foreign Affairs says the Agreement does not affect the entitlement of the Irish boats at Rockall.
Whether a legal review of the Agreement can be sought is unclear.
Click on photo below to listen to Tom MacSweeney's PODCAST
Listen THIS ISLAND NATION, the radio programme supported by the MARINE TIMES, here
EXPLANATION ABOUT THE 2013 AGREEMENT WITH UK MUST BE GIVEN
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Four Proposals for the Protection of Volunteers Rejected by Department and Coast Guard
Report by Tom MacSweeney
“We greatly value our volunteers and work very closely with them. They are our colleagues. There is no difference between full-time staff and volunteers in how we operate together. The Code of Practice is based on best practice.”
That was what the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport was told by Coast Guard management at a hearing about the role of the organisation in January.
End of An Era – Fairwell Annie Blaker
Large Crowds Turn Out in Wicklow to Bid Farewell to the Last Tyne Class RNLI Lifeboat
Wicklow RNLI have said goodbye to their beloved lifeboat Annie Blaker, the last Tyne Class lifeboat in the RNLI’s fleet. The final launch took place on the afternoon of Sunday 28th April in front of a huge crowd, which lined the pier at Wicklow. The station was joined by Dun Laoghaire and Arklow RNLI who made the journey to join a flotilla of local boats which led Annie Blaker out of the harbour and on to her final voyage.
New Catamaran Arrives on the Kerry Coast
The arrival of the 10m catamaran ‘Quest’ (T508) to Dingle on the Kerry coast is seen as a progressive step by its owner Peter Hand, who is delighted with the stability afforded by the vessel, thus providing a safe platform to work on.
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Bord Iascaigh Mhara to Increase Visibilty of Women in Ireland’s Seafood Industry
Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency, today, 6th March 2018, launched a promotional campaign to profile the important role women play in Ireland’s Seafood Sector. The Irish Seafood Sector contributed €1.15 billion to Ireland’s GDP in 2017. However women’s participation in the industry remains low. Just over one in ten (11.7%) employees in fishing, forestry and agriculture sectors in Ireland is female. This is significantly lower than the EU average of 36.9%. ‘I'm Trudy McIntyre, from Dunmore East, Co Waterford. I'm the daughter of a fishing family and now the wife of a fisherman, Shane McIntyre with two young daughters. I came into fishing through my father, spending time with him when he was out working on the boat.'
The Future of the Legendary Galway Hookers
The legendary Galway Hookers are the subject of our monthly interview in which the Chairman of Cumann HúcéirÍ na Gaillimhe, the Galway Hookers Association, Dr. Michael Brogan, talks to Marine Times Deputy Editor, Tom MacSweeney, about the future of these iconic West of Ireland boats and says they are a maritime art, the preservation of which deserves official support. The sight of a Galway Hooker under full sail is a wonderful spectacle, which can lift the heart of anyone with a maritime feeling. To helm one is even more stirring – and demanding. The feeling of power which comes through the tiller is astonishing, as I found on the helm of the MacDuach, the biggest of the Hookers.
Great Lighthouses of Ireland RTE Documentary
Irish Lights has announced its involvement in a four-part documentary series with RTE 1 that tells the story of Ireland’s lighthouses and the associated aids to navigation network around the island of Ireland and the vital role it plays in ensuring safety at sea for all. The documentary, Great Lighthouses of Ireland, illustrates Irish Lights’ leading role in safe navigation at sea from the 1800s to the present day, and the advances that have taken place in relation to Aids to Navigation from an engineering and technology perspective during this period.
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Segmentation of Fleet Capacity
Art Kavanagh: I remember some years back being at a presentation from a County Manager – as they were called at the time which he entitled “Running the County as a Business”. Since then the title of County Manager has been replaced with the title of “Chief Executive” which is probably more appropriate given the size of the Business actually being managed with Huge Budgets, large Numbers of Employees and responsibilities for many aspects of life within the County.
Joefy checking images and of his 'younger days' in the September issue of the Marine Times in Power's Centra in Dunmore East - Photo courtesy William Power
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