Duke fishery claim

THE circuit court has rejected a claim that a fishery in Cappoquin leased by the Duke of Devonshire to a local angling group was not owned by the duke in the first place.

The claim was made as part of an appeal brought by angler and unemployed father-of-two Michael O’Shea, aged 52, of Ballycoe, Dungarvan, against a conviction imposed on him in 2005 by the district court. He was fined €50 after the Cappoquin Salmon and Trout Anglers Association, of which he was a former member, brought a private prosecution against him for illegal fishing on the river Blackwater at Kilbree West, Cappoquin, on July 5, 2003.

The fine was maintained, with the judge making no order in relation to costs.