A Cork solicitor has criticised the Government for being "too afraid of the EU" to implement the UN Law of the Sea Convention, and has said it may take loss of life before it has the courage to use the legislation to protect Irish fishing crews.
Mr Pat Mullins of Dillon Mullins and Co, solicitors, from Kinsale, Co Cork, said there was no good reason why the Naval Service could not arrest vessels suspected of harassment at sea outside the 12-mile limit, following Ireland's ratification of the UN Law of the Sea Convention in 1996.
"The Government is just too scared of offending our EU neighbours," Mr Mullins said.
Mr Mullins was legal adviser to a Cork fisherman, Mr Martin O'Driscoll, who recently won a case he took against a French vessel in a suspected incident of piracy. Mr O'Driscoll's vessel, Girl Jane, was towed backwards for almost two miles and his nets were burned by the crew of a French-registered vessel about 20 miles off Baltimore in September 1998.
Although the Naval Service was contacted, there was no detention of the French vessel, named the Melodie, and owned by SA Nicot Armement. The minister for the marine and natural resources, Dr Woods, ordered an "immediate investigation" and said he would not "tolerate the legitimate fishing activities of Irish boats being unlawfully impeded or their safety threatened".
The minister also said he would take it up with his French counterpart; several months previously, Dr Woods had urged fishermen to contact the Irish Marine Emergency Service (IMES) to allow for a "rapid response".
At the time, several leading maritime lawyers argued that the minister was empowered to use existing international legislation to arrest offending vessels outside the 12-mile limit. Last May the minister told the Dail that "the question of the powers of intervention available to the Irish authorities" in respect of incidents was being examined by his Department and the Attorney General.
In the meantime, Mr O'Driscoll took a civil case and was compensated for damage to his gear, equipment and lost earnings in an out-of-court settlement regarded as landmark; there have been up to 16 such reported incidents involving Irish vessels in the past six years.
In March 1997 a Castletownbere skipper, Mr "Danny Boy" O'Driscoll, died when his vessel sank after a collision with a Spanish-flag ship. The Spanish skipper of the Milford Haven-registered vessel was convicted of failing to keep a proper look-out.
Last May Irish and French authorities were said to have initiated a full investigation after an Irish vessel, the Oilean Cleire, sank off Loop Head following a collision with a French vessel, the Rohellan. The five-man Irish crew was rescued, and the French vessel was detained, but for logbook offences.
Last July the crew of a 90ft Howth trawler, Renegade, had to be rescued after their vessel was struck by an unknown cargo vessel about 28 miles north-east of Howth. Once again an investigation was ordered by the minister.
"In fact, the Department just wants this issue to go away," Mr Mullins said. "It knows full well that the Naval Service is empowered to act, but that requires putting in extra resources and it also carries with it a responsibility towards Irish fishermen that it does not wish to exercise. Referring these incidents to IMES [now the Irish Coastguard], a search-and-rescue agency, just isn't good enough."
The Department of the Marine and Natural Resources said it had received the Attorney General's report late last week - coincidentally, the day Mr Mullins made his public criticism - and was studying it. A spokesman declined to give any details of the legal advice.
