Two days of events culminated in a dinner for the Executive Committee and board and guests of the ANIFPO at Parliament Buildings at Stormont, which was hosted by Northern Ireland’s Fisheries Minister Michelle Gildernew MP, MLA. The dinner was also attended by Ian Paisley Jnr. MLA, the Chairman of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Agriculture Committee, which has responsibility for fisheries.
In welcoming the Federation to Northern Ireland, Minister Gildernew recognised the frustrations felt by the fishing industry in the face of recent harsh decisions emanating from Brussels. She paid tribute to the work of the NFFO and praised the dedication, leadership and effort shown by the NFFO in representing fishermen in the Irish Sea and elsewhere in the UK.
For his part Ian Paisley Jnr. listed the support all parties in Northern Ireland had exhibited for the fishing industry. While expressing disappointment that local and regional authorities did not currently have as much management responsibility for fisheries as they would like and he looked forward to the day this would change, following the reform of the CFP.
While the Stormont dinner was the culmination of the NFFO’s visit to Northern Ireland, it was also the culmination of David Hill’s term as Chairman of the NFFO.
Davey Hill said,
“Following our very successful visit to La Coruna in Spain and Urk in the Netherlands, I was very proud to chair the first NFFO Executive meeting in my home port of Kilkeel in Northern Ireland.”
“In the midst of all the doom and gloom that is currently depressing the industry, it was good to hear my colleagues from the NFFO comment on the fact that Kilkeel and Northern Ireland’s other fishing ports are still home to a fleet of fishing vessels. We want to keep it that way and learn the lessons from other parts of the UK.”
“As always the Executive Committee had a wide ranging agenda dealing with issues as diverse from the continuing pain of the EU’s effort control restrictions to management of shellfish for the inshore fleet.”
“It was good for some of our own people to hear the support we have from our politicians in Northern Ireland and I’m sure my colleagues from other parts of the UK listened on with some envy. Maybe whoever forms the new Government will be able to learn a few lessons from Northern Ireland’s politicians.”
