Fishermen urged to accept new EU deal

The Irish Fishermen's Organisation has urged its members to look favourably at the new deal on quota allocations negotiated by EU fisheries ministers over the past week.

Despite calling the negotiations a failure, the IFO said at least Spanish fishermen will be subject to the same strict quotas in Irish waters as local trawlers.

Joe Maddock, the organisation's chairman, said: "The whole deal could have been much worse."

He said there were real fears that reduced quota allocations aimed at preserving fish stocks could have shut down the entire industry.