Armada will clean out rich fisheries

THE compromise deal by EU fisheries ministers on the so-called Irish Box, represents a classic Tadhg á dhá thaoibh solution.

By straddling the fence, the majority of ministers at yesterday’s crucial meeting under the Italian presidency, strove to satisfy both sides of the argument and, in the event, succeeded in pleasing neither Irish nor Spanish fishermen.

Thankfully, the EU resisted Spanish demands to give its vast fleet total access to Irish waters. That would be an unmitigated disaster equalled only by the Government’s decision to sell out our fishermen when we joined the EU.

Regrettably, today’s demands by Irish fishermen, anxious to see the status quo retained, have also been brushed aside under a deal that will see the creation of a new special conservation zone off the south-west coast, a third the size of the old Irish Box.

With Spain threatening to take legal action and Ireland equally unhappy, the EU compromise will cause untold problems. Amounting to little more than a token conservation gesture, it will expose what remains of Ireland’s once rich fisheries to a rapacious armada.