Ireland’s leading maritime newspaper covering the Coastal, Fishing and Maritime Communities

MARINE TIMES NEWS August 26th:
Worst Fears of Fishing Communities Confirmed

More on Hague Preferences Controversy – Sinn Fein’s Padraig MacLochlainn Issues Letters Between Government Ministers Dooley and Heydon

“You may recall that efforts were made by a senior official in DAFM to discourage my efforts to protect the Hague preferences in advance of the December 2025 Council of Ministers meeting. The reasoning advanced at the time was that my efforts might undermine the DAFM priority to get an agreement on the nitrates derogation for Ireland, reinforcing the lower priority that fisheries has within DAFM.”

The loss of the Hague Preferences was a very serious blow to the Irish fishing industry, compounding a 57,000-tonne quota cut for 2026 and an estimated €94 million loss to the catching sector.

The Hague Preferences were introduced in 1976 to counter the impact of access to Irish waters provided to vessels of other EU nations and to account for Ireland’s underdeveloped fleet.

At last December EU fisheries negotiations their future usage to benefit Ireland was blocked by France, Netherlands, Germany and Poland who forced withdrawal of this long-standing protection mechanism for Ireland.

Yesterday, in an interview on the MARINE TIMES FISHERIES PODCAST it was revealed for the first time that a senior official in the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine discouraged Fisheries Minister Timmy Dooley from protecting Ireland’s right to invoke the Hague Preferences.

Listen to the interview by clicking on image above

Sinn Fein Fisheries and Marine spokesman Padraig MacLochlainn revealed that he had obtained letters under the Freedom of Information Act which were shocking and made him very angry about the way fishing has been treated by government.

He has now released to the media these letters. (They can be downloaded here – Letter from Minister Dooley – Response from Minister Heydon)

“The reference in Minister Timmy Dooley’s letter to a senior official in the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine discouraging the Minister from protecting Ireland’s right to invoke the Hague Preferences is truly shocking and appalling and will only confirm the worst fears or our fishing communities,” said Mr. MacLochlainn.

“This letter from the Minister for Fisheries, Timmy Dooley to the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, is deeply alarming. It strengthens the widespread concerns in the fishing and seafood industry that the Minister for Fisheries is not leading out for Ireland on Fisheries during Ireland’s Presidency of the European Council. The response from Minister Martin Heydon makes no sense. The fishing and seafood industry successfully campaigned for a dedicated Minister for Fisheries rather than a Minister for Agriculture who would treat fisheries as an afterthought.

“The Taoiseach must urgently intervene and ensure that the actual Minister for Fisheries represents Ireland on the EU Fisheries Council. I asked him to do this back in July, and he has ignored me and the industry. This is unacceptable, particularly when the letter from Minister Timmy Dooley is now in the public domain.”

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