Irish Government Paying Rent to UK Crown Estate For Use Of Seabed Of Lough Foyle

 

Why is nothing being done by the Loughs Agency regarding 30,000 unregulated and unlicensed oyster trestles located on the foreshore of Lough Foyle between Muff and Moville?   That is the question to ask. 

The most broadcast reason being spun by Irish Government representatives and local politicians is the inability of both the U.K. and Irish Governments to agree on the ownership of the lough.

This explanation is a complete nonsense and empty rhetoric.

by Enda Craig

The fact is that the Loughs Agency is already in place by agreement of both Governments and has the legislatory power to deal with the situation.  The Loughs Agency's mission statement can be read here http://www.loughs-agency.org/  It states

“The Loughs Agency aims to provide sustainable social, economic and environmental benefits through the effective conservation, protection, management, promotion and development of the fisheries and marine resources of the Foyle and Carlingford Areas.”
 

The Crown Estate and it's role

So what is the real reason for ignoring the serious situation that has developed?  The 'elephant in the room' that blatantly has not been mentioned is 'The Crown Estate'.

History Of The Crown Estate https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/who-we-are/our-history/history/

The Crown Estate claim ownership of the seabed of Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough.  It is they who will not agree with legislation put together by both Governments in 2007 to regulate aquaculture fishing on Lough's Foyle and Carlingford Lough making it necessary for local fishermen, for the first time in history, to have to purchase a fishing licence.

This can be seen in the letter   http://savethefoyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/crown-estates.pdf,  dated 15 January 2007,  from Charles Green, MRICS,  on behalf of The Crown Estates to Mr J McQuillan, Fisheries Division, Castle Grounds, Stormont Estate concerning 'Draft Foyle and Carlingford Fisheries (Northern Ireland)  Order 2007.  In it he states:

"We write in response to your consultation on the above order and are pleased to have the opportunity to consider this.  The Crown Estate has significant ownership interests in the foreshore and seabed of Northern Ireland and has broad expertise and knowledge of activities across the tidal and inter-tidal zones"

The letter goes on to comment 'with concerns' on specific points raised in the draft proposal and it makes several amendments to the Draft Order.

Fishing rights and impending legal battle

Even though there was no agreement between the Crown Estate and the two Governments, the Loughs Agency went ahead and applied the licence requirement anyway.  Most fishermen relented and paid.  Some paid under protest. 

One fisherman resolutely refused to take out a licence from day one. He was prosecuted by the Loughs Agency in 2011.  He responded by taking a case against the agency for denying him his traditional fishing rights.  He is stating that Lough Agency is prosecuting him without proper legal cause on the basis that the Loughs Agency do not own the seabed on which he was fishing.

This important case is making its way through the court system and is shortly expected to arrive in the Supreme Court of Ireland. The Loughs Agency will not take the risk of making further prosecutions before the outcome of this case. This is the very reason the Loughs Agency are not prosecuting owners of the unlicensed oyster trestles.

Irish Government already paying rent to The Crown Estate

The following link shows the minutes of the 42nd board meeting of the Lough Agency in May 2007.  (The Loughs Agency is an agency of The Foyle Carlinford and Irish Lights Commission)

http://savethefoyle.com/2016/12/09/42nd-meeting-of-the-foyle-carlingford-and-irish-lights-commission/

These minutes quite clearly show that the Dept. of Marine in Dublin was already paying rent to the Crown Estate:

“Barry Fox informed the Board on recent contact made with Charles Green from the Crown Estates Commission. He advised that there have been a number of queries from Charles regarding the hectarage currently being used for aquaculture in Lough Foyle. The Agency has been reluctant to supply this information as it will encourage CEC to pursue a higher rent in Lough Foyle than the Department of Marine may agree.”

Time for transparency and truth

At this stage how can Irish politicians possibly pretend that they have a claim on the ownership of the seabed of Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough when the Irish Government has been paying rent to the actual owners - the Crown Estate?  It is hypocrisy of the highest order.  The political ramifications of this highly sensitive jurisdiction issue may explain why the roles of the Crown Estate and those involved are quietly brushed under the carpet.

The time for transparency and a conclusion is long overdue.  Any statements deflecting from the real issue is unacceptable.  It is time to come clean.  Political expediency has up to now undermined and adversely affected the rights of the fishing community and the general public.

The first Derry Radical Bookfair 2017

We are pleased to announce Derry’s first ever Radical Bookfair will take in Pilots Row Community Centre, Rossville Street, Derry on Saturday 28th January 2017.

The Radical Bookfair will play host to participants from all over Ireland and beyond. The first ever Radical Bookfair will take place during a week of events hosted as part of the Bloody Sunday March for Justice leading up to the annual Bloody Sunday March, with a series discussions and debates, film and theatre centred around a wide range of local, national and international contemporary social justice issues.

All participants are welcome to the Radical Bookfair with different visions, ideas, practices and radical traditions.

This year the Derry Radical Bookfair Collective will host a one day radical book fair as an opening in support of small press publishers and independent book sellers and producers, circulating radical reading materials and information from independent distributers, non-party political campaigns and groups to share their publications and merchandise, most of which are hard or impossible to find at mainstream book shops. Books of local, national and international interests including social and labour history as well as themes covering radical feminism, queer liberation, anarchism, marxism, republicanism and environmentalism.

Derry and its surrounding hinterland has without doubt one of the most remarkable radical heritage which has shaped the world in which we now find ourselves.  A proud tradition of working class radicalism which has created many momentous events throughout the centuries and has at times forcibly changed society around us for the better.

In the docks the men organised, in the factories the women unionised and on the streets the people mobilised tearing down the walls around those who would prefer to see us in divided. It is no surprise that we continue in that spirit to build on that tradition by hosting the city’s very own Radical Bookfair in an effort to allow our class to educate, agitate and organise ourselves with the ideas that continues to create change.

Source: https://derryradicalbookfair.wordpress.com/  
             http://www.wsm.ie/c/radical-bookfair-derry-28th-january-2017

Northern Ireland Fisheries Minister Michelle McIlveen on Lough Foyle jurisdiction dispute

Northern Ireland Assembly Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Michelle McIlveen, answers Members' questions on the ownership and jurisdiction of Lough Foyle and Carlinford Lough, Dec 5, 2016

Here is what the Derry Journal wrote on Dec 8, 2016

Fisheries Minister Michelle McIlveen says the Foyle border dispute is impinging on the Loughs Agency’s ability to licence aquaculture effectively. The Minister expressed concerns when asked about the ownership of Lough Foyle by DUP MLA Maurice Morrow.

The Minister expressed concerns when asked about the ownership of Lough Foyle by DUP MLA Maurice Morrow.

Ballykelly, Lough Foyle, Inishowen. Photo by Andy Cameron.

The query was prompted by Secretary of State James Brokenshire’s recent restatement of the British position that the whole of the waterway is in the UK. She said talks were ongoing between the Irish and British Governments and the issue may be raised at their next meeting later this month in Dublin. She said her main worry she had as Fisheries Minister was the practical difficulties presented for licensing. “My immediate concern is that the ongoing dispute is impacting the ability of the Loughs Agency to effectively manage aquaculture activities, particularly licensing in Lough Foyle, and I am, therefore, anxious that it be resolved,” she said. “For that reason, during my first North/South Ministerial Council meeting in September, there was a discussion on how the ongoing dispute is adversely affecting the operational activities of the Loughs Agency. “The pressing priority for all those involved in the discussions should be to come to an arrangement that will allow the Loughs Agency to fulfil its role properly,” she added.

Miss McIlveen reiterated that the British claim dated back to Charles II’s 1662 Charter, which granted the waters, the bed and the fisheries of the Foyle to the Irish Society. Dublin’s position, she claimed, which hasn’t altered over the course of the last century, is causing problems. “There is a claim by the Irish Government by virtue of the fact that they have not accepted the position of the United Kingdom, which is obviously causing ongoing problems, not only with aquaculture licensing in Lough Foyle but with any future management that we would like to put in place, particularly for Lough Foyle and Carlingford.”

Source:derryjournal.com