As we enter the final run-in of general election week everyone in the Irish fishing and seafood sectors will by now have been bombarded with postal flyers, candidates, and campaigners, from various political parties, all of whom are promising to bring a new era for Irish fishing - - but, as the saying goes, “talk is cheap” and the question remains as to which of these parties have actually been listening to the demands of an industry in crisis?
Editorial Comment
Cormac Burke, IFSA.
Some three weeks ago (Nov 4th) a joint statement was released by several fishing industry representative organisations in which eight points were identified and highlighted as being of urgent requirement for the saving of the Irish fishing industry.
Bearing in mind that this statement was made public more than two weeks before any political party produced their manifesto, there was ample time for them to examine and consider if they wanted to support some, all or none of these industry demands.
Here we take a brief look at each of the industry demands and what parties have included them in their manifesto as promises to tackle if they are elected:
STOP THE GIVEAWAY OF IRELAND’S GREATEST RESOURCE - OUR FISH!
this issue, in one form or another is referenced in the manifestos of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, Independent Ireland, Aontu and Labour;
APPOINT A DEDICATED MINISTER FOR MARINE
included in the manifestos of Sinn Féin, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Independent Ireland;
GIVE OUR FISHERMEN A FAIR SHARE OF FISH IN IRISH WATERS
referenced in the manifestos of Sinn Féin, Independent Ireland and Aontu;
SEAFARERS ALLOWANCE - INSTIGATE A FAIR TAX SYSTEM FOR FISHERMEN
mentioned only in the manifesto of Fine Gael;
SECURE THE FUTURE OF COASTAL COMMUNITIES
included only in the manifestos of Sinn Fein and Independent Ireland;
A COMPLETE RENEGOTIATION OF THE COMMON FISHERIES POLICY
this is the only item that is included in the manifestos of all main parties of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Fein, Fine Gael, Independent Ireland and Aontu;
STOP THE CRIMINALISATION OF IRISH FISHERMEN FOR MINOR OFFENCES (i.e. a challenge and review of the SFPA)
this subject only addressed in the manifestos of Sinn Féin, Aontu and Labour;
SUPPORT IRELAND’S FISH PROCESSING SECTOR AND OFFSHORE FACILITIES
this topic referenced in the manifestos of Sinn Féin, Fine Gael and Aontu.
Comment
Although no government ever swept into power purely on election promises as history and track record plays a big part, and it may be overly simplistic to award points to the various parties based on their manifesto efforts in listening to the industry’s eight demands (i.e. FF 3/8, FG 5/8, SF 7/8, Ind. Irl 5/8, Aontu 5/8, Lab 2/8), it nonetheless remains a fact that fishing industry and coastal community voters, in this time of absolute crisis, will be looking towards some one, some party, or indeed some coalition of parties who are genuinely willing to tackle the raft of problems, both at home and at EU level, and to support & revive the Irish fishing industry to its rightful place as being recognised and respected as an island nation with the richest waters in Europe, if not the world.
But we’ve all seen this before - - how many elections over the past 30-odd years have seen candidates (who were later elected) stand on our doorsteps and tell us how much they “care” about the economies of the fishing and coastal communities, and yet look at the state of the Irish fishing industry today…
While those of us of a certain age can talk about the ‘good old days’ when fishing 40 years ago was a fantastically lucrative industry for everyone that was in it and obviously it was ‘too good to last’ - but its hard to believe that the fishermen of just 10 to 15 years ago have experienced such a downturn in quotas and wages that many of them are now gone from the industry, voluntarily or involuntarily.
Scarily, if things are not urgently addressed by this incoming government, this could very well be the last Irish general election that the fishing industry is even a topic on the agenda - with just 16,000 people, an ever-dwindling quota and a fleet of vessels a shadow of the numbers of former years.
Will voters stick to the old tradition of following the parties that they, and their parents, have always supported, or will the fishing industry make a radical strike in a bid for survival in voting for a complete change?
It’s going to be an interesting election….
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