Salmon and sea trout anglers along with inshore fishermen insist a planned explosion of giant fish farms on the west coast will lead to a senseless destruction of the Irish environment and damage key industries.

Concerns have been raised about the risks of a sunken First World War German U-boat off Cork being plundered.

HEALTH inspectors and Department of Marine officials carried out up to 20 routine inspections of a walk-in fish shop freezer but failed to notice a man’s body which was hidden there for five years.

EVERYONE has heard of the Irish red deer that grace Killarney National Park, not to mention eagles and dolphins, but Kerry also has many other rare and threatened species of animal and plant life.

AN all-out effort to save ten pilot whales in danger of stranding in the Dingle Peninsula was continuing last evening.

A Galway father-of-four, who beat a Dublin criminal to death and stored his body in a freezer for five years, was jailed for eight years today at the Central Criminal Court.

A Galway father-of-four, who beat a Dublin criminal to death and stored his body in a freezer for five years, will be sentenced on Friday at the Central Criminal Court.

I WELCOME your report headlined ‘€30m ferry taxi moves a step closer’ (September 1).

GARDAÍ arrested 12 protesters yesterday following clashes between Shell workers and locals on a Mayo beach.

ANGRY fishermen from across the country tied up their boats yesterday and took their concerns to the front gates of Leinster House over rising costs and restrictions in their industry.

THERE will be no national coordinated plan to prepare for next week’s record high tides despite the Office of Public Works (OPW) despite being given the responsibility for drawing up an emergency strategy following recent flooding.

The seafood industry is to get an €8m boost.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s “botched” handling of his mini-reshuffle was last night portrayed by many Fianna Fáil TDs as having done “desperate damage” to his credibility within the party.

SPECULATION on the political future of junior Marine Minister Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher was bound to flare up following rumours of a high-level rift within the Department of Marine over how to tackle an explosion of illegal fishing by Irish trawlers.

HUNDREDS of ferry passengers heading to France for Christmas were last night forced to take alternative routes through Britain, after Irish Ferries vessel the MV Normandy was detained at Rosslare Port.

A BOAT owner being investigated in connection with allegations that he left migrant workers overnight on an island said yesterday he believes that the case has been sorted out.

NEW security systems have been put in place in Irish ports to deal with possible terrorist threats in a multi-million euro initiative.

Eddie Cassidy and Donal Hickey

CONTRACTS were signed yesterday for the construction of offices for the Department of Marine and Natural Resources in West Cork.

Ferry services have been disrupted at Rosslare Port due to a protest taking place at the port.

The Naval Service has detained three French trawlers off the south coast on suspicion of breaching fishing regulations.

ENGINEERS at the Department of the Marine expressed concerns that water level measurements at a controversial Kilkenny weir made for the project by international engineering consultants Mott McDonald were incorrect before the project was given the final go-ahead, the Irish Examiner has learned.

THE Defence Forces yesterday insisted that Irish trawlers are not being specifically targeted by naval fishery patrols, as the fishing industry warned it was battling for survival.

THE Port of Waterford has told Transport Minister Martin Cullen it needs seed funding of several million euro from the Government to expand its facilities at Belview and allow it cater for increased business.

Two French fishing vessels have been detained by the Naval service overnight and are being escorted to Cobh in Co Cork by the LE Eithne.

A French fishing vessel was detained off the Cork coast yesterday is due to arrive in Cobh harbour shortly.

THE Office of Public Works has firmly identified a site in West Cork for a proposed decentralised office of the Department of Marine.

SEAN RADFORD says the bank will repossess his trawler and he will lose his home if the Government fails to help scallop fishermen.

STORMY weather at sea for the past month has caused the deaths of hundreds of fish which are being washed up on some beaches in the South-West.

GARDAÍ yesterday raided boats and premises in four counties as they extended their investigation into overfishing and official corruption in Co Donegal.

Dozens of gardaí today carried out raids in four counties as part of a probe into alleged fraud in the fishing industry.

THE marine authorities have been accused of failing to enforce safety regulations on fishing vessels after a man died while discharging fish from a newly-built trawler.

By Ryle Dwyer FIANNA FÁIL promised that, if they were returned to power, only 20% of workers would be paying the highest rate of tax.

CORK county councillors have requested an urgent meeting with Minister of the Marine Dermot Ahern to discuss a controversial new licensing policy which has effectively beached two new state-of-the-art trawlers that cost their owners €18 million.

RTÉ’s recent Prime Time programme finally exposed what really goes on in the murky world of salmon farming.

TWO new contestants have been called up to join the crew of the reality TV programme Cabin Fever, which the producers expect to be back on air next week.

THE future of RTÉ’s reality TV show Cabin Fever remains in doubt following the sinking of the 90ft schooner involved in the programme off the Donegal coast on Friday.

THE owner of a trawler which sank off the coast of Co Wexford last year could face criminal prosecution after the official report into the accident found the boat was “unseaworthy, overloaded and unstable”.

FIRES which raged through forest plantations over the holiday weekend have caused more than €1m in damage, an expert said yesterday.

Checks were continuing today on the condition of an Argentinean oil tanker on which two crewmen died and another was seriously injured when it was caught in a storm.

Two Argentine crewmen have died in an accident on board a tanker off the Mayo coast.

Officials from the Department of the Marine will this afternoon examine the catch of an Irish-registered Spanish-owned trawler.

HUNDREDS of fishermen in the South-West are facing a bleak Christmas with no income, a fisheries manager warned yesterday.

SATELLITE imaging and aerial surveillance will be used