Supertrawlers’ impact on our seas: Ecologically and socially intolerable

THERE are very few areas where the sobering truth — “the monkey with the biggest stick? He gets all the coconuts” — cuts as deeply as it does in how our natural resources are exploited. 

Or, dare it be said, shared. The story of how Ireland’s gas and oil resources were signed away is a sad, shameful, and sinister one. That national capitulation — betrayal is not too strong a word — does not bear scrutiny. We can only look with envy at how Norway, albeit a country offering far lower-risk exploration opportunities, used their bounty to build enviable services and genuine opportunity. Despite those moderate people-before-profit demands the Norwegian gas and oil fields generated billions for those able to invest in the adventure — there was enough for everyone.

One of the take-home lessons from that scandal is that any entity established to manage Irish water resources must be, by referendum if necessary, secured permanently in public ownership. Any alternative would be dangerously naive.