Rural and Coastal Communities - Robbery, betrayal and neglect

Martin Ferris

BY ELLA O’DWYER

The sense of betrayal and neglect felt by rural and coastal communities in Ireland was evident at the Ard Fheis. The communities that should be allowed harvest our natural resources are, literally, having the food taken out of their mouths.
Speaking on the Common Fisheries Policy, Martin Ferris TD said: “The Irish fisheries sector has been in crisis for decades”, and “fundamentally the crisis is a direct result of decades of mismanagement and neglect – ultimately based on the surrender of our fisheries to Brussels in 1973.”
EU countries are permitted to fish on Irish waters but within a certain quota. Fishing above that quota is illegal and basically amounts to theft. “The Irish people,” Ferris said, “have been told a lot about what this country has gotten in EU funds but not much about the fact that other EU states have taken more than that in the value of fish taken from our waters and the loss that has represented to the Irish economy.
“The level of illegal fishing by foreign vessels is believed to be at least a third of the legal catch. We are talking about billions of Euro worth of fish in today’s values having been taken from our waters by non-Irish vessels.”
Councillor Pat Fitzgerald of Waterford Sinn Féin said: “I represent people in an area of County Waterford that has roughly 24 miles of coastline. There are three villages along this shoreline, the biggest being Dunmore East, which until recently was one of the busiest fishing ports on the country. But EU and government regulations have turned this once busy village into an unemployment black spot.”
“Take commercial fishing away and most coastal villages have no reason to exist, the community dies or disperses – a process that can be seen in coastal villages around the country. I believe we should go from this Ard Fheis and challenge the Dublin government to regenerate these fishing communities.”
Oisín Ó Dubhlain of Ógra Shinn Féin called for an enquiry into deals done with oil and gas companies and for a renegotiation of the terms of the Corrib Gas project. “The Irish people are no strangers to betrayal”, he said, “but one betrayal stands out in this period of non-stop insincere hand-wringing by Fianna Fáil and Green ministers – the legitimised robbery of our natural resources. This gas, if put to the benefit of the people instead of Shell and others, would be a significant aid in restoring the economy. Huge profits, jobs and cheap fuel for struggling families and the elderly are what we could have to gain.”
Oisín has a republican solution to an Irish problem. “The only cost” to the Irish people, he believes, “is to assert ourselves as a nation and peel back the years of profit taken by the few, instead of accepting the crumbs and raw deals for the many.”