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11th July 2017 • Volume 24, Issue 25 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
Big Problems Ahead For Local Fishermen With the North County and other communities along the east coast having a rich tradition in sea fishing, with many families relying on it for their livelihoods, the news that the British Government’s decision to withdraw from London Fisheries Convention will be a worrying move. This means that the UK will exclude foreign fishing vessels from fishing between 6 and 12 miles from their coast, including those from Ireland. The first shots in the Brexit war are likely to affect fishing communities in Howth, Rush, Loughshinny, Skerries and Balbriggan where there are many families involved in fishing industry. It is estimated that for every crewman on board a boat, there are four people employed ashore in spin-off jobs.
By Patrick Finnegan The County Leader spoke to prominent local fisherman, Ivan Wilde who operates out of Skerries who said, “The six to 12 mile exclusion zone won’t make that much of a difference to us, as we don’t fish there too much, but if they extend that to a 12 to 200 miles range, that would have a severe impact on local fishermen. We get approximately 60 per cent of our catch within that area. We also contacted Clogherhead based fisherman, Barry Faulkner, who has three boats at sea and he fears that the Irish Sea will be split down the middle. He said, “This decision by the British government is not an immediate thing and will take a few years to implement. We have an agree-
it was found to have no legal basis and was thrown out. The harsh reality is that the Irish Sea will be split down the middle, with the result that there will be certain areas in the Irish Sea where I won’t be allowed to fish. We have a traditional prawn fishery, which we used to fish, alongside Northern Ireland boats for generations, between the Isle of Man and the English coast. That will now be lost to us, if this Brexit suggestion comes to pass. It also means that the Northern Ireland boats will be precluded from fishing up from Howth to Clogherhead for prawn between zero and 12 miles, which has been a traditional fishery for them. This is similar to the restrictions to be imposed on us,” he said. “This is going to affect me, but we’ll survive, but if the British claim their territorial waters and impose their 50 to 200 miles limit, then we’ll have a real problem because if the EU fleet that is fishing in this area can be precluded from these areas, then they’ll come to fish in Irish waters. This is not an Irish-UK thing, it is an EU-UK thing, so Local fiherman Ivan Wilde (right) and one of his we’ll all be affected,” trawlers, Our Lass II (above) he concluded. ment put in place with civil servants in Local TD Darragh Britain and here about 50 years ago, O’Brien (FF), and the where we could fish from zero to six miles party’s Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs off the coast of Northern Ireland and they and Trade has criticised the British could do the same in our waters, which Government’s decision to withdraw from suited everyone. This was challenged and London Fisheries Convention.
He told the County Leader, “The decision will prevent Irish trawlers from fishing in waters within 12 nautical miles of the UK coastline. I am extremely concerned about the impact that the British Government’s decision to remove itself from the London Fisheries Convention will have on Irish fishermen, particularly those operating out of Balbriggan, Skerries, Howth, Rush and Loughshinny.” “The fishing industry in North County Dublin is a major employer and any move which has the potential to threaten this sector must be treated with the utmost seriousness. Hundreds of jobs in this region are dependent on O’Brien TD the reciprocal fishing rights applied under the Convention and our Government must insist that fishing rights are discussed, as part of the wider Brexit trade discussions. “I will be meeting local fishermen to discuss the impact of this situation with them. Irish fishing fleets have a lot more to lose as a result of this decision because of our proximity to UK waters. Minister Creed must step up to the mark and ensure that the industry is protected by negotiating a larger quota. I will be raising my concerns about the UK Government’s decision with the British Ambassador when I meet with him this week, and I will be seeking assurances that the special relationship between Ireland and the UK will be respected and maintained, during the Brexit process,” he concluded.
Balbriggan Says ‘No’ To Nursing Home A large protest was held by residents of Bath Road and Lambeecher estate in Balbriggan, to protest at the possibility of planning permission being granted for a four-storey nursing to be located at the beach near Bath Road in the town. Public representatives, Cllrs Tony Murphy and Gráinne Maguire, as well as local residents attended the meeting. Cllr Murphy spoke to the County Leader about problems the proposed nursing home would bring to the area. He said, “It has to be said from the outset that this site as it is, is an eye sore. However this site location is very sensitive and frames the beach area of Balbriggan and it needs to be protected from over development. The height of this proposed nursing home building exceeds the height of the railroad embankment by two stories plus. In my opinion this should not be allowed. There would be a physical change in the skyline view travelling down Lambeecher estate towards the sea.” “The residents have major concerns with regard to the construction phase of the proposed project. The site is compromised with limited access through a tunnel, which can only accommodate one vehicle at
a time and it’s at the end of a ramped road that cuts through a housing estate, with increased traffic flow to and from the site if the building gets the go ahead. Lambeecher estate residents have no issue with a nursing home development but strongly object to this size on a building on such a sensitive location,” he said. Monica Harford, Chairperson of Bath Road/Lambeecher Residents Association said, “We are not against the idea of a nursing home in Balbriggan – far from it, but we are against it being built on this site because of the volume of traffic it will bring. There is only one access road, and this is only suitable for present traffic in this estate. We are very disappointed because we strongly opposed the last application and we are disappointed that the developer made no effort to meet with residents at all. We are hoping that the County Council will see our point of view, because we had an onsite meeting with Council officials and one of the issues raised was the volume of traffic that’s coming in, due to the two schools and the all-weather pitch. So we were very surprised that neither the Planning Department of the County Council, nor the developer made any effort to meet us,” she concluded.
Pictured on Bath Road, Balbriggan are locals who are protesting at the proposed nursing home to be located in the area are, Sandra Martin (Secretary, Bath Road Residents Association), Cllr Grainne Maguire, Joe Nulty, Cllr Tony Murphy, Marian Collins, Nuala Reid, Eoin McGarry and Monica Harford (Chairperson, Bath Road Residents Association)
Eoin McGarry, a local resident whose home will be directly affected by the new nursing home told the County Leader, “The new building will block out the whole view. We’re located on the sea front and we will now only get a narrow view of the harbour. I’d be worried sick about my grandchildren coming to visit because of the dangers of traffic visiting the nursing home.” Local Cllr Gráinne Maguire said, “There’s genuine concern among residents that somebody will be killed or seriously injured due to
the heavy traffic. We need to address the traffic problem before any development takes place on that site. The land owner has just lodged a planning request, but as things stand, a bin lorry or a utilities vehicle will not be able to access this site under the very narrow railway bridge. There are many questions that need to be asked and I think it is unfair of the Council to allow planning permission for an area that has issues attached to it that cannot be addressed,” she said.