The Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation has welcomed the announcement of a €25m support fund for the sector – but also says more must be done.
The announcement of the fund was recently made my Minister for Agriculture and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.
The CEO of the KFO, Seán O’Donoghue said in a statement that: “We welcome today’s announcement – the €25.6million support package will help alleviate some, but certainly not all, of the financial hit inflicted on Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) Tier 1 and Tier 2 vessels since Brexit.”
“That said, we’re far from through with Brexit. This is but another step on a long, arduous road and we in the KFO, will be continuing to fight for equity in levelling out the impact of the financial ramifications of the fish lost to Britain through ‘burden sharing’ with our European colleagues.”
Figures provided by the KFO claim that Ireland’s mackerel sector will lose more than 1,200 jobs by 2030 because of Brexit, and that by the end of this year, pelagic fishermen will have had a commercial loss of more than €52m compared to the end of 2021.
“In the words of the Department, this allows vessels ‘sufficient time to put in place longer-term restructuring measures’. It’s going to be a long battle but one to which we are fully committed. We won’t be found wanting when it comes to our members’ interests and livelihoods. This a fundamental question of fairness.”
