Isn’t it strange that no matter who’s opinion you ask in the Irish fishing industry, the answer will invariably be one of sadness at witnessing the gradual termination of a highly successful way of life, but also one of anger at how 40 years of unchallenged power at the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine (DAFM), has been allowed to continue - - but many feel that the time is now right for some long overdue accountability.
Editorial Comment
Cormac Burke, IFSA
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“OUR NEW MARINE & FISHERIES MINISTERS MUST BE GIVEN EVERY CHANCE TO TRY AND TURN THE CRISIS IN THIS INDUSTRY AROUND - - BUT THEY MUST NOT HAVE THEIR HANDS TIED IN A POWER STRUGGLE WITH MARINE CIVIL SERVANTS”
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Speaking off the record, any Irish politician would probably admit that civil servants actually run the country - - hence the nickname ‘the permanent government’ as it matters little what political party is in power, it will be the same ‘suits’ in the same departments running the show regardless.
And this situation has been the accepted order to a certain extent, but while it’s one thing for appointed ministers to unofficially agree to some kind of ‘power sharing’ with the new department over which he’s been assigned to its something else for a department head to think they can tell their new political boss that “this is how things are going to be…”
People may think surely not, but nowhere in Irish life has the situation of ‘the tail wagging the dog’ been more in evidence than in the DAFM - - often seen by many in the fishing (and farming) sectors as the sinister back room where history shows that ministers and even Taoiseachs of the past have feared to thread.
No one seems to know at what point Ireland’s fisheries civil servants seized its power but records show that from the 1980s onwards in particular, the Irish fishing industry began losing every single battle at EU level negotiations and meanwhile at home, a DAFM dismissal of every positive proposal that might in any way help the industry was, and has ever been since, very much in evidence.
This constant, not so diplomatic downturn of the fishing industry, its priority in Irish Government standings and its loss of power & respectability at EU level led to the DAFM’s title amongst those in the Irish fishing industry of “the Department Against the Marine”.
Many believe that several people at the top of that DAFM lengthy regime considered themselves above the law - - and if not above the law, then certainly beyond the reach or control of Ireland’s politically elected leaders and appointed ministers, and the fact that the DAFM persons in question were never held accountable over the decades that passed confirms that consecutive governments either didn’t care or were in fact too scared to challenge this office.
Then came the day when, without a single tear shed from the fishing industry, these particular people were finally gone out of office …. Replaced with a new DAFM assistant general head but, whilst at least not openly burdened with an anti fishing industry reputation, this person has become known as ‘the invisible man’ for their apparent lack of interest in making the slightest effort of interaction with the industry in general.
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History must not be allowed repeat itself
There are strong beliefs in the industry that the mantra of ‘anti fishing’ brainwashing that took place within the walls of the DAFM in previous years means that there still exists elements within this office who are dedicated to ensuring the continued presence of a dominant force to stop any possible chance of a resurgence or recovery under a new political regime.
This, one could say, means that right now, as we enter a completely new political regime of a senior DAFM (FG) Minister and a ‘super junior’ (FF) Minister for Fisheries - - both highly capable politicians, is the perfect time for the industry to see full transparency when these ministers begin to deal with their marine civil servants.
Everyone who has lived through the events of the past 40 years of this industry is aware that many marine ministers have come and gone, most without leaving any positive impression, but the civil service regime has continued on its own uninterrupted path and operating to its own unchallenged strategy - - indeed so much the case that one can have an degree of sympathy for some of the more well-intended souls who came in as a new minister, full of hope and aspirations, but then found themselves completely handicapped and ‘hog tied’ when realising that the real power of their position actually lay with their own DAFM senior official.
One, however, would have less sympathy for some marine ministers (two in particular come to mind, one recent and one from twenty-odd years ago) who seemed to relish this situation and were more than happy to play the role of the puppet for their masters whilst ensuring no benefit for Irish fishermen or the fishing industry during their term.
And so, as everyone celebrates a new political regime of Minister Heydon and Minister Dooley, hoping & praying that they can begin to turn this industry away from the crisis that see us at the cliff edge, the industry demands that these men must at least be given a chance to succeed… … they must have full control and their hands MUST NOT be tied by generations of department officials who have, remember for over 40 YEARS, held control over every aspect from a small potting boat landing in a rural pier in Ireland to what deal an Irish fisheries minister is told to agree to at an EU meeting - - - -
- - - yes, 40 years, and how strange then that not once has an Irish minister (under advice from his DAFM officials) come home from EU negotiations with positive news for the Irish fishing industry; not once has an Irish fisheries minister (under advice from his DAFM officials) covered himself with glory with some action or other that has been widely welcomed by all sectors of Irish fishing; and not once has the political termination of a sitting marine minister been greeted with woe by a fishing industry sorry to see a ‘good guy’ leaving.
If the DAFM is in fact supposed to be the representative office of Irish Government ‘management’ of the fishing industry then how can it be acceptable that year after year (for 40 years) this industry is shrinking, beaten down by shrewd EU Commission deals, and generally verging on collapse in every sector of the industry, then surely this is a management regime that is failing, and has failed for the past 40 years, and must be overdue a complete Government evaluation of operational strategy?
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“ITS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE IRISH FISHING INDUSTRY HAS NOT HAD ONE PIECE OF GOOD NEWS DELIVERED TO IT BY AN IRISH MINISTER IN OVER 4O YEARS OF DAFM CIVIL SERVANT CONTROL - -— THEIR STRATEGY AND IDEA OF ‘GOOD NEWS’ HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO ADVISE THE MINISTER TO PREDICT EXTREMELY BAD NEWS BEFOREHAND AND THEN COME BACK WITH CELEBRATION OF SLIGHTLY LESS BAD NEWS…”
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How many December EU Councils have we seen a marine minister, briefed and advised by Irish DAFM officials, return home with news of even more quota cuts and try to soften the news with the angle of “it could have been worse…” And also trying to fool people by issuing press releases which gloss over the reduction of quotas for five vital species and largely focus on a minuscule percentage increase of quota in one single species - - and then have the gall to dress this up in the media as some sort of success for the Irish fishing industry and for the minister in question.
For Ireland, the fishing industry is surely drinking at the bar of the Last Chance Saloon and our hopes of redemption are getting slimmer by the day.
We must get our own house in order before we can even begin to challenge the injustices of EU Commission control and the CFP, and we must, once and for all, first root out the age-old problems here at home and ensure that the power over the fishing industry actually lies with the fisheries minister and not with some behind-closed-doors official.
Therefore our new Senior DAFM and Junior fisheries ministers must be given a clean slate and a chance to turn things around but this can only happen if they are allowed to break down the barriers, seize power and carry out a full review of the fishing industry related actions, both recent and historical, within the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine.
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Footnote
During my time as editor of Fishing News International based in London (around 15 years ago), I was sent on various missions to report on the commercial fishing industry from many far flung destinations around the world.
It was a fascinating experience seeing firsthand the successes, and sometimes failures, of many fishing management systems.
However, I couldn’t help but be sad to note that almost everywhere I went and once people learned that I was Irish, the fishing industry story and reputation of Ireland seemed to precede me - - fishermen from nations as far south as New Zealand and Peru, and as far north as Iceland, Greenland and Norway, all countries where their fishing industry is held with great pride and respect, would ask me if the stories were really true about the wonderful island of Ireland, sat on the Atlantic Ocean on the western edge of Europe, holders of the richest waters possibly in the world - - and yet incredibly Irish fishermen are poor, their quotas are small, the size of their fleets are reducing while other smaller nations are building bigger and better boats (from the profits they are making from Irish waters), and that Irish fishermen are harassed by Irish fisheries regulatory systems that seem to be enforced, on their own people and by their own people, to a far greater extent than the control agencies in any other EU nation.
Time and time again I, almost ashamedly, could give these people no explanation as to why the authorities in Ireland have never seemed to have held any pride in the heritage and tradition of its fishing industry, nor indeed why successive Governments over the past 50-odd years would make zero effort, other than occasional lip service, to even recognise the value of the fish that live and breed in Irish waters - - to the extent that even to this day, not one member of an Irish Government nor of an Irish semi State body will admit to the fact that over ONE BILLION EUROS’ worth of fish is taken from Irish waters by non Irish fishing vessels every year, and every year since at least the 1980s.
They say it’s not over till the fat lady sings, well unless something changes very soon she’ll be starting to clear her throat…
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