Brexit deal has 'failed' fishermen and left farmers with 'little reason to celebrate'

Picture: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

The Irish Fishermen's Organisation say the Brexit agreement concluded today has "failed" Irish fishermen.

Under the agreement, Ireland will have to give back 25% of fish we catch in UK waters compared to the 80% originally sought by the UK.

But the Killybegs Fishermen's association said that the 25% figure was not an improvement on what was spoken about last week and which had been unacceptable to them.

Chief executive of the organisation Sean O'Donoghue said the mackerel market would be devastated.

"In spite of a seismic effort to redress the imbalance of the proposed deal in recent days, not enough has changed and our highly-developed mackerel fishery stands to lose out dramatically," said Mr O'Donoghue.

"While the full detail of the text is not yet available, it will require very close examination and analysis.

Make no mistake - we will be seeking compensation from our EU colleagues to put right this grievous wrong.

"We won’t accept this. Moreover, we fully expect the Irish Government to deliver the requisite compensation in the form of transfer of mackerel quota from the other EU coastal states which pro rata, have seen a much less severe impact on their respective mackerel fisheries,” he concluded.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has admitted some ground was given when it came it fishing.

"We managed to minimise the damage across Europe in terms of the impact on our fishing sector.

"There were some concessions at European Union level on that but we will work with the fishing community to support the fishing community."

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has said the deal reached between the EU and the UK is a relief but that it will pose significant difficulties for the Irish agri-food sector.

IFA president Tim Cullinan said the outcome leaves "little reason to celebrate".

Mr Cullinan also said the longer-term implication for our food exports could be the flooding of the UK market by cheap imports.

"The UK now can do deals with other countries particularly with South American countries where there is the possibility of importing substandard beef into the UK which in turn would depress the Irish market for beef.

"Obviously, we have concerns about that but, I suppose, we have to look on the positive side.

"What we are seeing here this evening is there will be a continuation of the level playing field."

Mr Cullinan said there are real concerns about how non-tariff barriers will impact on Ireland's ability to keep trade flows moving citing scenes at Dover this week where hundreds of trucks were left stranded for a number of days.

He said Green Lanes for food exports must be prioritised after January 1.

"The Government and the EU must have the €400m support fund for Irish farmers ready in the new year to address any market disturbance. The €5bn EU Brexit adjustment fund must also be available," he said.