BY EMMA CONNOLLY
THE next generation of West Cork’s fishermen and women were among those who took part in a protest in Dublin on Wednesday, in a further bid to attract government attention to what they say is a crisis in their industry.
A flotilla of over 50 Irish trawlers travelled in convoy up the River Liffey, before the sons and daughters of fishers handed in a letter to the Taoiseach at the National Convention Centre, where the Dáil is sitting.
Patrick Murphy, of the Castletownbere-based Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, said these young people had been robbed of the innocence of their childhoods as they were fully aware of the threats facing the industry.
The protest comes on the back of one in Cork city last month, and among the issues they want addressed is the renegotiation of the Common Fisheries Policy, so Ireland is allocated a fair share of fish quotas, and a renegotiation of the Brexit agreement on fishing.
Patrick Murphy gave credit to the Taoiseach for meeting them in West Cork at the weekend, and welcomed a meeting on Wednesday afternoon with the Minister for Agriculture and Marine.
‘But these are just the first steps,’ he said.
