Let’s not repeat mistakes of the past

In the early ’60s the Verolme Ship Building Co built a shipyard in Rushbrooke in Cork harbour and facilitated the training of hundreds of Irish men in the ship building yards of Holland.

There are a lot of men alive today who will remember those years. One mile down the river there was a steel works.

Now here’s the thing: You might think was a golden opportunity for the government of the day to put two and two together and, using Verolme with Cork Steel, to build a fishing fleet worthy of an island nation sitting out in the Atlantic with vast fishing grounds and training hundreds more of young Irish men in the seafaring and fishing skills.

Had this been done we would have had far more bargaining power as far as our fishing quotas were concerned when we eventually became full members of the European Community, and might still today have a fishing industry worthy of the name. So now, is history about to repeat itself?

The Whitegate oil refinery is up for sale and both oil and gas are being discovered around our shores. The indications are encouraging, but is this Government capable of putting two and two together or will they rely on a report generated in the US concluding that Ireland does not need a refinery? Will they have a far-sighted approach or will they repeat the mistakes of the past? Here’s another thing: There are more than enough educated and intelligent people, universities, and agencies in this country, given all of the data, capable of reporting on the benefits, or otherwise, of an Irish oil industry here without relying on outside sources.

Joe Brennan

Ballinspittle

Co Cork