Brexit: New NI fishing boat rules 'create hard border'
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The new rules came into effect at the end of the Brexit implementation period
Post-Brexit restrictions on where Northern Ireland boats can land their catch in the Republic of Ireland have "created a hard border on the island", fishermen in the north-west say.
NI-registered vessels can now land at just two Irish ports - Killybegs in Donegal and Castletownbere in Cork.
The new Irish government rule came into effect on 31 December 2020.
The Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Marine have said the issue is "an outcome of Brexit".
In a statement, the department said that Minister Charlie McConalogue is "aware of the issue" and "will continue to look at options to resolve it".
'Serious problems'
Skipper Darrin McAvenue said the changes had created serious problems for crews in the north-west.
His boat is registered in Northern Ireland, though he fishes out of Greencastle, his home port on the shores of Lough Foyle on County Donegal's Inishowen peninsula.
He has always "fished in Northern Ireland waters around the north coast".
"So we have a Northern Ireland-registered boat to do that," he told BBC Radio Foyle's Mark Patterson Show.
'Broken the law'
Up until the end of 2020 he could return to Greencastle to land his catch.
"That's where we tie our boats, that is where I live and where most of the crew lives," he said.
On Wednesday, he said Irish government officials notified him he could no longer do so.
Counties Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, and Londonderry in Northern Ireland lie on either side of Lough Foyle
Instead, he landed his catch in Portrush, County Antrim, before returning home.
He said that when docking in Greencastle he was also told by Sea Fisheries Protection Authority officials that he "had broken the law by entering a southern port".
"I am still in shock - the last couple of years we have been told there is no hard border, then this," he said.
'Livelihoods in jeopardy '
Fishing is "the only way we know how to pay the mortgage and put food on the table".
"To be told you cant make a living is hard to accept - I don't know where we stand, everything is up in the air."
Harry Wick, who is the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers Organisation, has said this affects around 40 boats off the north coast.
"For the Irish government to insist that these vessels need to land their catch in either of these two ports, it makes that fishing operation unviable overnight," Mr Wicks explained.
"Fisherman's livelihoods are in jeopardy, he added.
"In Northern Ireland we have around 300 commercial fishing vessels all together and we have seven registered ports for the Land of the Fisheries products.
"In the Republic of Ireland, they have got around around 1400 vessels yet they only have two [ports]."
Mr Wicks has called on the Irish government to "address this rapidly"
Stormont's Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) has written to Northern Ireland fishermen in recent days to notify them of the new Irish government rules.
A Daera spokesman said following the end of the implementation period the "UK is now outside the regime applying to EU fishing vessels".
"The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) in the Republic of Ireland has asked Daera to point out to Northern Ireland licensees that landings in the Republic should only be at the designated ports of Killybegs or Castletownbere."
UK licensed boats, the spokesman added, "may not land into nor access services in any other ports in the Republic".
'Huge issue for smaller boats'
Greencastle skipper Liam O'Brien said the rule changes are "devastating" for the local based crews working Northern Ireland-registered vessels.
"These boys have been kicked in the stomach by their own government.
"It wasn't Boris Johnson or Arlene Foster or anyone else - it was their own government put up a hard border."
Fishing boats registered in the Republic are still able to use facilities in Northern Ireland.
This week Sinn Féin's Donegal TD Padraig MacLochlainn told BBC Radio Foyle the new rules were a "huge issue for smaller vessels and boats".
"Essentially the problem is the licence holders are being treated as if they are based in Plymouth (UK licence holders)," he said.
"Therefore the produce they are bringing in is being treated as being outside the single market and the customs union."
The Donegal TD said the two-port rule goes against the spirit of the Good Friday peace agreement and is "clearly an oversight in the Brexit negotiations".
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- Published5 January 2021
