The Supreme Court has dismissed an unusual application by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries to review its decision upholding a €49,600 damages award to the owners of two fishing vessels.

THE critical slump in EU sheep-meat production will be addressed at a conference today and tomorrow, in Limoges, in France, organised by Michel Barnier, the French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.

PROTESTING fishermen were meeting in Cork last night to decide on what course of action to take following the lifting of their port blockades.

THE fishermen’s blockades of Cork and Waterford ports were called off yesterday after Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Brendan Smith agreed to meet the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) tomorrow. But the fishermen were quick to point out they have not called off their protest, just suspended that aspect of it.

HUNDREDS of fishermen are being asked to hang up their nets under a €42 million government payoff that will reduce the national fleet by a third.