Fahey battles to ease EU fish quotas

Talks in Brussels on fishing in EU seas have been described as "tense and gloomy".

The Council of Fisheries meeting is one of the longest in its history - it has been on going since yesterday afternoon and looks set to continue well into the morning.

Ireland’s Marine Minister Frank Fahey has so far been unable to have proposed EU cuts of almost 60% in white fish catches, eased.

There has been no progress either on other issues such as fleet size and total allowable catches.

The sector claims that thousands of jobs are at risk if the proposed cuts in fish quotas go ahead as they stand.

The stance of EU Commissioner Franz Fishler has been described as strident, by sources close to the talks.