Hook, Line & Stinker

Cleats removed on Greystones pier TUES15AUG23

s we checked back on coverage of the long-running dispute over Greystones fishermen having access to the new Greystones harbour, we stumbled upon our November 2019 interview with Ivan Toole.

Back then, there was a feeling that, 11 years after the promise of a loading dock had vanished without a trace on the new harbour plans, we were in the final stages of securing just such a spot for the handful of fishermen still operating out of this town.

Bejiggers, were we wrong.

Ivan has spent much of this past year in court, battling the harbour master Bernard Gallagher over that long-overdue access, all the while accumulating 320 €75 fines over the past year for having the gall and balls to use the harbour.

And now, today, the lads returned to find that, for the second time in the last six months, the cleats used to tie up their boats had been removed.

“One of the old boys up in the marina apartments tipped us off that there were two lads dressed in black cutting the cleats off the pier around quarter past 12,” Ivan tells us. “Of course, we were out fishing, and when we got back around half two, the cleats were gone…”

As luck would have it, Ivan tells us, two such guys dressed in black carrying a black bag just happened to be lounging about on the other side of the pier.

“So, we promptly nabbed the two lads and asked them what the craic was,” continues Ivan.

Using the ladder, and one another, to dock…

“Of course, they denied it, but it was later confirmed to us by a witness that it was indeed them. And somehow, the two new  security guards employed on the pier to stop any criminal behaviour never noticed a thing…”

Harbour master Bernard Gallagher strongly refutes Ivan Toole’s version of events above, with a spokesperson stating on his behalf, “Moorings have been provided to the fishermen in Greystones Harbour. The fishermen have refused to use these moorings and are instead mooring illegally in the Marina and are refusing to pay any mooring fees unlike all other users of the harbour.”

Always two sides to every argument, but it’s remarkable verging on ridiculous that this dispute over Greystones fishermen being allowed to operate out of Greystones harbour has been going on for over a decade now.

What’s particularly disappointing here is that, as the court battle drags slowly on through its second year, is that a resolution appears nowhere near… 

Big thanks to Zoe Brady for today’s pics. You can jump back through the fishermen’s blues here.