Fishermen celebrate Irish Box compromise

IRISH fishermen were celebrating last night after Marine Minister Dermot Ahern successfully fought off an attempt by Spanish fishermen to have open access to Irish waters.

The so called 'Irish Box' an area of about 50 miles around the Irish coast has been reduced by a third after the EU voted to establish a new conservation zone on the south-west coast to replace the box, which covered the entire west coast.

The compromise reached at the marine ministers' meeting in Luxembourg yesterday followed months of negotiations between the Spanish and Irish authorities and the European Commission.