Danny Healy-Rae: Warns 2,300 Jobs at Risk in Fishing Crisis
Danny Healy-Rae spoke about proposals he said could destroy up to 2,300 jobs in the fishing industry and urged the government to protect Irish fishing waters and coastal communities. He argued foreign vessels operating off Irish shores would devastate fishermen, processors and local businesses, and called on the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and ministers to use all available measures to stop it.
He described the scale of the impact as one of the most serious matters he has seen since entering public life, warning that up to 2,300 jobs in the fishing industry could be lost. He emphasised the danger to fishermen, coastal towns and those who depend on the industry for their livelihoods.
He pressed the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and ministers to "pull out all the stops" and to use any veto or power available to prevent foreign vessels fishing in Irish waters. He said ministers must combine efforts and warned that stronger measures — including threats where necessary — should be considered to defend national waters.
He outlined knock-on effects beyond fishermen, listing shopkeepers, publicans, garages, fitters, small processors and others who rely on the industry. He recalled local lorry movements from Castellown Bear and the pride in how fleets represented themselves during COVID as examples of the sector's wider community role.
He suggested Ireland had not always benefited since joining the European Union and said losing exclusive access to fishing waters could justify withdrawing from some arrangements. He criticised demands for derogations and Mercosur in the same context, arguing Ireland must not be left to "stand idly by" while its fisheries are affected.
Threat to jobs and coastal communities
He described the scale of the impact as one of the most serious matters he has seen since entering public life, warning that up to 2,300 jobs in the fishing industry could be lost. He emphasised the danger to fishermen, coastal towns and those who depend on the industry for their livelihoods.
Demand for immediate government action
He pressed the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and ministers to "pull out all the stops" and to use any veto or power available to prevent foreign vessels fishing in Irish waters. He said ministers must combine efforts and warned that stronger measures — including threats where necessary — should be considered to defend national waters.
Impact on the local supply chain and communities
He outlined knock-on effects beyond fishermen, listing shopkeepers, publicans, garages, fitters, small processors and others who rely on the industry. He recalled local lorry movements from Castellown Bear and the pride in how fleets represented themselves during COVID as examples of the sector's wider community role.
Warnings about withdrawal and trade concerns
He suggested Ireland had not always benefited since joining the European Union and said losing exclusive access to fishing waters could justify withdrawing from some arrangements. He criticised demands for derogations and Mercosur in the same context, arguing Ireland must not be left to "stand idly by" while its fisheries are affected.
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Transcript
Thank you very much. I'm glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very serious matter here this evening because when we talk about fishermen, you're talking about an awful lot of people and you're talking about coastal communities and people that depend so much for to keep living. And it's often dangerous and contrary and people have gone through a lot to put the fleets that they have together and to think that in some room somewhere with a stroke of a pin that we can destroy up to 2,300 jobs in the fishing industry in our own country. It's one of the most serious things that have happened since I've come up here to Dalian in 2016. And I might be a small bit away from the sea but not that far because I have known all my life people like Michael Orpen and all those people that did so much to employ people from Castellown Bear all the ways over along and down into Cairns Iveen and back to Dingle. So many people that have given so many people, so many people that have given so much to the industry, employed so many people and to think that this is going to finish us all together. And I mean people weren't happy with what was the fishing that we've had because it's about three years since I see a mackerel and we know for a long time that something's gone wrong. And now this complicates it further and that people's livelihoods, so what I'm saying to him ministers, we can't accept this. He'll have to pull out all the stops, whatever it is, and here won't do, he'll have to go over into whatever rooms this is decided in and threaten them with everything. We have more miles of seashore in our little small country, it's one of the biggest industries, it was one of the biggest industries that we had in the country. And it was actually the English taught us how to fish back in the 1600s and we complained a lot about them back over the years but this is one of the things, the good things that I did. But we would leave go ministers and that's not satisfactory in their eyes, in my eyes or anyone's eyes. To think that there'll be foreign vessels fishing off our shores and that there'll be fellows standing in the seashore looking out at them, that's not fair ministers. And I'm asking you to ensure that they all combine together, the Taoiseach and the Tarnashter and all the ministers, ensure that whatever veto or whatever he can do is done because your faith and our faiths will be decided in this if this is going to be the end result of it. And we've had the shots far since we joined the European Union, but this is cause enough for me anyway to say that we'll have to withdraw from a lot of the carry-on if we're going to lose our own fishing waters that are our own. And that we haven't had, since we joined the EU, we haven't had the benefit of them totally like we should have. And we see a demonstration when we were in the, that was the centre during COVID, all the fishing fleets came into the, up the river and they gave, they represented themselves so correctly and so proper. And no one, no one said, no one said the one, had the one story, they all had their own different story and they were very interesting to listen to. But sadly, whatever, whatever has happened now has superseded all that and I, and, and, and, and, and fought the wars and it's, it's, it's not good enough for people. And you see, and you see, when you affect the fishermen, you're affecting so many of coastal communities, everyone was getting a bit out of it, the shopkeeper, the publican, everyone, and the garage, whatever it was, and fitters and everything, and the processors, the small processors. This is going to be devastation and to the one thing ministers that I was very proud of, going up our village late at night, coming from Castellown Bear's lorry, Castellown Bear lorries after lorry, going up, up, up, up through the village in the dark of night and maybe going down again in the middle of the night. They, they, they seem to operate at night because the road is so bad they can see the lights and it's safer for them to travel at night. But we appreciate them for, for the work that they were doing and have been doing diligently and without an error and, and it's nothing that Ireland has done or, or, or left Europe down in. But they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're was taken to the cleaners ministers and he'll have to, like I say, this is not, Christmas Day is coming and he's here in, in, in, in less than a week but he can't sit down during that. He'll have to ensure that he'll put a strategy in place to teach them a lesson that they can come into Irish waters. We own them, and that's the starting point. They should only be let in if we let them in. And whatever bit of artillery we have, they should be threatened with it, because it is our property, it is our coastline, and it is our jobs, and it is our people that are being affected, and it's time now that we stood up and take no more of their bull because that's what they're giving us, they're giving us nothing. And they're begging for everything, begging for the derogation, begging for Mercosur, and we're entitled to leave as well as the Brazilians or any other one that's coming, interfering with our markets, and they're interfering with our commodity here in fish that was cleaned out, and we have to stand idly by that can't happen, ministers. I'm asking you to work together to ensure that it doesn't happen. Those people up here, I welcome those gentlemen up there, Patrick Murphy and the rest of those that are here tonight, they're concerned, and we're all concerned with them, and we'll have to stand with them and ensure we'll have to do something more drastic than we're doing, because we haven't been good enough up till now. That was taken to the cleaners, and I'm asking you to put an intent for once and for all. This is more serious than any other thing that has happened in the last 15 or 20 years, because we were bad enough to put it in, but now we're cleaned out altogether. Thank you very much. I'm very upset about this, it is a serious matter for people, their lives and opinions. Thanks, Secretary. Thank you very much. Thank you.