Inishowen fishermen being criminalised by Department of Marine - TD claims

The social media reaction to the detention of two Greencastle fishing vessels by the Irish Naval Service illustrates the feeling within the fishing community it is being criminalised by senior officials within the Department of the Marine, according to a Donegal TD.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD, the Sinn Fein spokesperson on fisheries and the marine told Inish Times, fishers have “no faith in those at the higher echelons of the Department of the Marine”.

Mr Mac Lochlainn added: “I have been meeting with fishermen and their representatives in Inishowen and wider Donegal. I have telephoned around the producer organisations and I have had online meetings with inshore fishing organisations. I have met with a very large number of fishers, small, medium, and large, right across the sector, including a recent visit to Arranmore Island.

“The common denominator of absolutely everybody I have spoken to is that they have no faith in those at the higher echelons of the Department of Marine. There is a huge gap of distrust. There is a sense that fishers are being treated like criminals. Fishers feel the department has a heavy focus on them as criminals, rather than on what it could do to improve their lot.

“Take Inishowen. We have Greencastle harbour and a breakwater that was left half-finished 10 years ago. We spent more than €12 million of tax payer’s money on a half-finished breakwater and if we do not finish it, we will have wasted €12 million. It is an absolute scandal.

“In addition, there are exciting plans for the redevelopment of Greencastle harbour, not just for fisheries but for tourism. Again there is no progress. We cannot get the breakwater sorted never mind the harbour,” said Mr Mac Lochlainn.

According to Mr Mac Lochlainn, all of the piers in Inishowen require investment.

He said: “All of the piers, Culdaff (Bunagee), Portmór (Malin Head), Glengad, Urris and Leenan, need investment, not for a wee slipway but for good facilities for actual fishermen.

“For me it is clear, there is not a vision for how we can maximise the wealth from our water. We are an island nation. We are surrounded by water and we have very substantial territorial waters, hundreds of miles out into the Atlantic. We just do not have the leadership necessary at the senior levels in the Department of the Marine to look after all sectors. I cannot comment on the recent case but, if you look at the response on social media to them, it is clear people feel that fishers are being criminalised and I am sick of it.

“There is also the sense there are big super trawlers out there hoovering up species of fish, but the Department of Marine is preaching to the Irish fleet, to a fisher involved in fishing pelagic fish or whitefish, which is what Greencastle would do.

“The Department of the Marine is basically telling fishers, here is what you have to live on. It has strangled inshore fishermen for years. There has been no proper management of the fisheries. There have been attempts to divide and conquer people,” said Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.

The Donegal TD was adamant there was “nothing good to say about the Department of the Marine”.

He added: “The Greencastle breakwater encapsulates everything that is wrong in the Department of the Marine. 10 years ago the Department of the Marine took on this project. It put up 75% of the funding. Donegal County Council provided 12.5% and the Department of Rural Development put up 12.5%.

“The total amount spent is well over €10 million and then the Government just abandoned it. It was always understood when it was abandoned, it would be finished in a couple of years.

“However, every time it has been raised since, the Department has been dishonest saying Donegal County Council is responsible for the Harbour. It is not. The Department managed this project. The Department of the Marine abandoned this project. If it stays abandoned, we will have wasted more than €10 million of tax payer’s money. The only way this makes sense is to finish the project off. If you finish it off, you open big potential for Greencastle harbour and that is the prize here.

“I wish Charlie [McConalogue] well as minister for agriculture and the marine. I would have hopes of a fair deal for Inishowen now. However, I would say to Charlie, he needs to take on the people at the highest level at the Department of the Marine. He needs to demand that they finish off the breakwater at Greencastle harbour and examine Leenan pier, in particular, which needs investment. The department also needs to start to treating the fishers with respect. I have never seen a department that was so removed from the people they are supposed to represent,” said Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.