‘Fishermen from North an invading species’ – Norris
NORTHERN Irish fishermen were described as an “invading species” in the Seanad as the Government sought to bring in a law to allow them to fish in Irish inshore waters.
The remarks were made by Senator David Norris as he tabled an amendment opposing the Government plans.
The attempt by the Government to bring in the law came after a 2016 Supreme Court ruling effectively struck down the informal arrangement for reciprocal fishing rights that had been in place since the 1960s.
Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said the Government’s attempts to pass the legislation ran into difficulties in the Seanad in 2017.
He told Newstalk that Mr Norris was among senators who opposed the move and said his amendment would have had the effect of locking all UK boats out of the zero to six-mile zone. In his Seanad contribution, Mr Norris argued that various governments had a “very poor track record in fisheries” and they “never really regarded it as a
national resource for the people of Ireland”.
He said that British vessels had been allowed to fish in areas designated for Irish fishermen and this was “undermining Irish sovereignty and taking away what amounted to Irish natural resources”.
Mr Norris also said: “I think we are remarkably tolerant of all these invading species, not only the British and the Northern Irish but the Spanish, who have fished out their own waters and are coming in here.” He claimed the Irish record in fishing in waters off Africa was “appalling”.
During the debate Mr Creed argued that Mr Norris was “confusing apples and oranges” and said Spanish fishermen were not coming into the zero to six-mile limit.