Political dastardly deeds surfacing on Lough Foyle

 
 
 

by James Quigley

Up to now the saga of Loughs Foyle and Carlingford ownership, has been sidestepped down through the decades.  However,  controversy has now reached crisis point and the issue is not over by a long shot,  maybe a nautical mile.  Many serious issues cry out for an investigation and answers are long overdue. 

Take for example the Irish Government, nationalist and republican parties acquiescing in this affair, their subjugation to an English claim of ownership by The Crown Estates in London which is borne out by evidence,  provided by Enda Craig in his article,  evidence of the quiet handing over of a king's ransom in rent.

This 'Crown' affair and the evidence dug up by Enda is a shot across the bow to the Irish Government.  It somehow brings to mind historic times such as Francis Drake, Queen Bess and their imperial quest for treasure and 'Britannia Rules the Waves', piracy and looting.  It also reminds one of absentee rack-rent landlords and their local toady overseers.

The evidence shows that rent has been paid since the inauguration of the Loughs Agency in 1998, one of the cross border bodies set up through the Good Friday Agreement.  These cross border bodies were controlled by representative political groupings from both North and South including nationalist, republican parties like Sinn Fein and Fianna Fáil.

We also know that the thorny question of jurisdiction and ownership cropped up in the 1950's when the Crown Estate tried to introduce fishing licences.  However, they gave up after discovering that it would be to difficult or impossible to enforce the levy,  unable to pursue defaulting fishermen through the courts. The fishing community believed then, as they do today, that it had always been a right to pursue their traditional way of life and no foreign company was going to start charging them for this right.

It is hard to imagine the Good Friday Agreement setting up a structure like the Loughs Agency to control and manage local resources,  a mechanism whereby our own nationalist representatives would then go on to do (or try to do)  what the Crown Estates was not able to do i.e levy charges on local fishermen.

But it is another thing altogether to find out that this cross border agency, with the support of nationalist politicians not only imposed licences but then carted the bounty to a foreign crown. Fortunately there were some people with principles who did not buckle under pressure of legal action.  One fisherman is presently taking a case against the Agency and this case could go all the way to the Supreme Court.

The affair of ownership of the loughs, the discussions or indeed lack of discussions, in the run up to The Good Friday Agreement and the setting up of the Agency has presented many questions.

Was sovereignty, jurisdiction and ownership discussed prior to the Agreement?   It would be incredible that something as fundamental and controversial and wrought with potential conflicts was not discussed.

If it was the case that it was discussed and then agreed to set up the Lough's Agency as overseers of the Lough Foyle and Carlingford without solving the 'elephant in the room' i.e ownership, jurisdiction and sovereignty, then that is a case of a hoodwink perpetrated on the Irish nation?  

Enda, as an activist and member of 'Save the Foyle'  has been involved in many campaigns dealing with the environment, the ecosystem and local sanitary waste problems for more than 30 years.  These pursuits has brought him to the intractable issue of ownership of Lough Foyle and it's wider repercussions.

During this time he has liaised with the local community, including the fishing community who have an inherent expertise and experience of the Loughs.  He has been involved in the question of jurisdiction and ownership, studying planning and engineering reports, environmental studies, EU legislation and has encountered monumental official procrastination and bureaucracy.

In his many pursuits there was always this one gigantic problem - no one talking about or acknowledging,  the ownership of the sea bed of the loughs and the responsibility of those involved.  Like a mollusk clinging to a rock it was hard to penetrate the shell of secrecy.

His article clearly shows not just an ineptitude but also a more sinister element bubbling under the surface, that of the Crown Estate's claim of ownership right up to the high water mark and the incredible involvement of nationalists, not only ignoring and hiding problems but possibly participating in the subterfuge, willing to support charging licence fees and delivering rent to the Crown.

It is cynical in the extreme to find out that our own Government connived with political parties to undermine and destroy Foyle and Carlingford fishermen's traditional rights. Maybe even worse still by using the structure of the Lough's Agency to conceal their dastardly deeds.

As someone I read recently said 'What century are we in now'.

Source; Irish Government Pays Rent to Uk Crown Estates by Enda Craig

Another possible sinister problem for Loughs Foyle and Carlingford

Jeffrey Donaldson stands by offer to base Trident in Northern - Irish Times Nov 2015

 

The Royal Navy’s 16,000 ton Trident-class nuclear submarine Vanguard

Buncrana unfortunates, it's that time of year again - parking permits

Look what popped into the postbox this morning.  Merry Christmas from Donegal County Council.

Not many readers would be aware of problems some local residents are experiencing and have endured for the past 10 years over parking outside their homes. 

Seeing that it's almost the 10th anniversary let us remind Donegal County Council and those councilors (former Buncrana Councillors)  who were responsible for such a discriminatory and unjust piece of local legislation.  More specifically let us remind Councilors Nicholas Crossan (Ind) and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) who were the prime movers.

Each year some 'unfortunate' residents are forced to go through this demeaning process of filling in a form, supplying proof of vehicle and domicile to apply for a single permit, for a single car,  for the privilege of parking outside their own homes.

It directly affects residents on the Main Street, the adjacent streets and some selected areas in the town.   However, it incidentally affects many other people outside the areas especially family members and friends.

Some residents are affected worse than others e.g the elderly, the sick and especially residents without a driveway or who rely on the street to park. 

All visitors and family wishing to visit must pay parking.  If someone stays over, visiting a parent say,  they must get up before 9am and feed a parking meter.  We believe there might be a waiver for a death.

All residents outside these areas are not required to seek permits .  Can you imagine the difficulty this incurs?

 

The application form includes what it calls an 'Important Checklist'

"First-time Applicants: Enclose 2 current proofs of residency, copy of Vehicle Registration i.e. Tax Book or Vehicle Licensing Certificate, copy of insurance and copy of driving licence."

                                        Click image to enlarge

Below residents protest outside Buncrana Council office December 2007.

                               Click image to enlarge
                                or read at this link

Footnote
At the time of original protest, almost 10 years ago,  a residents delegation to a council meeting was told, sarcastically,  that what we were looking for (i.e. a reasonable number of permits per household which could be given to our visitors)  was out of the questions.  The reason given was that we would use these permits to make money.  Now isn't that trusting and isn't it a typical business way of thinking.  Do you remember Nicholas and Padraig? 

Irish fishermen ‘face wipe-out’ unless fishing rules changed

Analysis: Ireland should use Brexit as basis to to renegotiate EU fish policy, industry says

Fishing boats are seen in Cobh harbour in Co Cork. Fishermen’s representatives have called for a review of EU fishing rules. Photograph: Getty

by Lorna Siggins

Ireland’s fishing industry has breathed a sigh of relief, after Minister for Marine Michael Creed and his negotiating team in Brussels secured an overall six per cent increase for 2017 on last year’s share of quotas.

The outlook had been “dire”, as one representative said, with an initial 68 per cent cut in cod and nine per cent cut in prawns averted.

It was Creed’s first “red-eye” council, where EU fisheries ministers use sleep deprivation as a tactic to haggle for quotas for their fleets.

However, sleep may be in even shorter supply at such negotiations in years to come if Britain leaves the EU.

Oblivious to Brexit, fish know no boundaries, with some 40 different stocks moving between these two islands.

Creed acknowledged on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland on Wednesday that British withdrawal would have a serious impact on the Irish fishing industry - “38 per cent of volume and 36 per cent of value of Irish fishing is in British territorial waters”, he said.

If Britain “attempts to establish a wall around their territorial waters”, this would pose “a significant challenge” he said.

“It would mean the entire fishing network will be displaced to a smaller area,” he said - as in Irish waters, already under severe pressure from Spanish, French and Dutch fleets.

“We will raise questions with the Commission about Ireland’s unique position,” he added, but industry organisations don’t believe the Government has given that “position” sufficient punch.

With 22 per cent of all EU waters off Irish coast, and just two per cent of EU fleet capacity to catch it, Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation chief executive Sean O’Donoghue has stressed the urgency of taking a strong stand.

The Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, whose members have felt the impact for years of Spanish and French fleets, says Ireland should use Brexit to renegotiate the entire Common Fisheries Policy, or face a “wipe-out”.

There are already ominous rumblings about the near future. Britain did not support Ireland at the talks in defending the “Hague Preferences”, which recognise the particular case of coastal communities in allocating quotas.

Also, British Secretary of State James Brokenshire recently reasserted London’s claim over Lough Foyle in response to a parliamentary question in the House of Commons last month. After the Belfast Agreement peace deal, a cross-border body known as the Loughs Agency took responsibility for the Foyle, which was a key strategic naval base during the second world war.

The Department of Foreign Affairs immediately rejected Mr Brokenshire’s assertion that “the whole of Lough Foyle is within the UK.”

A recent Supreme Court decision held that Northern Ireland fishing vessels could not legally fish or harvest mussel seed in the Republic’s territorial waters - under an arrangement known as “voisinage”.

However, it is understood that the Government wants to introduce legislation which would effectively reverse the Supreme Court ruling. At a recent seafood conference hosted by Bord Iascaigh Mhara, British National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) chief executive Barrie Deas forecast three possible scenarios in relation to Brexit.

The first was unilateral action by Britain to set its own quotas and control its own waters, the second involved bilateral and trilateral negotiations on shared stocks with coastal states, including Ireland and Norway.

The third was a move to a regional management structure by coastal states, a type of “super-regional advisory council”, expanding on the regional councils established as part of the revised Common Fisheries Policy, he said.

This latter scenario could benefit all EU coastal states, he suggested. The rights of coastal states to manage their own stocks - a type of regional management recognised in the most recent EU fish policy - is likely to gain greater currency as those stocks come under event greater pressure.

World demand for seafood is only going up, and the Irish industry is worth 1 billion euro in annual landings. However, foreign landings, transhipped back to Spain with no added value, are also on the increase here.

In an interview with The Irish Times in 1996, then EU fisheries commissioner Emma Bonino gave the most honest description of the community’s vision for “fewer, larger vessels”, spending longer periods of time at sea - such as the Dutch factory ships filmed in Irish waters for the recently released documentary Atlantic (italicss) directed by Risteard Ó Dómhnaill. This would fulfil the European Commission’s aim of providing cheaper fish for the consumer, but at the expense of coastal communities depending on the activity.

Birdwatch Ireland’s representative Sinéad Cummins, who was in Brussels for the fish talks, has urged EU ministers to think of the long term future of communities on the coastline by sticking to scientific advice - and allowing greater public access to the late night deliberations behind firmly closed doors.

Source: Irish Times, Dec 12 2016