Fishermen Out Of Water

Ivan Toole 14MAY21

hen we sat down with Ivan Toole on July 1st last year, it appeared that a 12-year struggle had actually come to an end.

Finally, Greystones fishermen would once again be able to once again land their catch in, eh, Greystones.

All the t’s had been crossed, and all the i’s had been dotted.

Only trouble is, there was a c that had no intention of going with this particular flow.

“We had campaigned hard for years and years to get access to the harbour once again,” says Toole when we met up again on this sunny Friday evening, “and it came as a great relief to ourselves, to the local councillors, to Wicklow County Council and to the harbour operators, SISK, that all these protests, and all these meetings, had finally forged a result. And that we’d now be able to berth our catch on the North Pier…”

Even then, it was acknowledged that harbour master Bernard Gallagher hadn’t been at those crucial meetings, but with a thumbs up from the powers above him – namely WCC and SISK, who had entered into a 30-year public-private partnership on the new marina in 2008 – his omission from the agreement ultimately didn’t matter.

Or so it seemed. In January of this year, Gallagher sent Ivan’s fellow fisherman Tim Storey an official warning over berthing his vessel Centurion in Greystones marina ‘without permission or agreement with the Harbour Master‘. In April, the Centurion was impounded, Gallagher chaining it to the marina. Tim and Ivan called the guards.

When we got in touch with Bernard over the impounding, he sent us that official warning…

We have been very patient with the people involved but this illegal behaviour can not be allowed to continue in the safety of all using the harbour. No fisherman or any other craft has ever been refused use or berthage in the marina once they obey the bye-laws. The vessel has been moved as a result of the following breaches of the By-laws

1 Safety: your vessel has tied off Safety ladders and blocked same.

2 You have moored illegally in the fairway despite being told and written to on several occasions.

3 Bringing Fuel trucks onto north breakwater which is completely illegal and dangerous

4 Storing Lobster pots on the north Breakwater which is not allowed.

5 Washing down lobster pots and you boat with waste pouring into the marina basin.

6 Speeding into the harbour

7 Failing to pay any berthage fees over the last years.

8 Refusing to respond to our solicitor or answer any of the queries raised by our solicitor.

9 Refusing to talk to the Harbour Master or any of his staff regarding the harbour Bye Laws etc.

For Ivan, it’s all down to the council and SISK/Sispar sorting out a problem that they themselves created – something that local councillor Mags Crean has been trying to address in the past few weeks too.

“I have contacted Wicklow County Council on the issue of a long-term and viable berthing arrangement for the fishermen,” she says, “and they have directed me to contact Sispar, who have not responded to me yet. A core concern with Public Private Partnership arrangements is that a private company has no obligation to respond, whereas the council do.

“At the end of the day, even though the marina is being operated by Sispar, it is a public asset in our community and that means that there is a responsibility on Wicklow County Council to ensure a public asset is accessible to all. So I’m calling on Wicklow Council and Sispar to meet and reach a resolution that works for everyone.”

Crean also got in touch with the town’s five other councillors, but, as yet, no reply. Like ourselves, they might just be a little battered and bruised – and confused – by this long and winding battle, but there’s little doubt that Greystones fishermen should be allowed to berth in Greystones.

With this in mind, we sat down with Ivan once again, to find out just how that might happen…

You can check out last year’s int here, Cllr Mitchell’s response to this article here, the June 2019 blockade of the harbour here, the May 2019 protest here, and how the old harbour became the new harbour here. Cover pic: Henry.