{"id":611362,"date":"2026-09-01T16:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T16:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/611362\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T16:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T16:42:13","slug":"ifpo-calls-for-iceland-style-fisheries-derogations-for-ireland-the-fishing-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/611362\/","title":{"rendered":"IFPO Calls for Iceland-Style Fisheries Derogations for Ireland – The Fishing Daily"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"IFPO<\/p>\n

\u00a0Aodh O\u2019Donnell, Chief Executive, Irish Fish Producers Organisation, calling on the Government to seek a review of Ireland\u2019s position within the EU\u2019s Common Fisheries Policy.<\/p>\n

IFPO Says Ireland Deserves Same Fisheries Flexibility Offered to Iceland<\/p>\n

The Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) has called on the Government to seek a comprehensive review of Ireland\u2019s position within the EU\u2019s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), after Iceland\u2019s rejection of a return to EU accession talks exposed the extent to which Brussels was prepared to bend on fisheries to keep Iceland at the table.<\/p>\n

Icelanders voted this week against reopening EU accession negotiations, frozen since 2013. In the lead-up to the vote, EU fisheries commissioner Costas Kadis and enlargement commissioner Marta Kos had both indicated there was scope for flexibility on CFP rules to accommodate Iceland\u2019s fisheries and agriculture sectors; flexibility successive Irish governments have been told does not exist.<\/p>\n

IFPO Chief Executive Aodh O\u2019Donnell said the result showed that Brussels\u2019 room for manoeuvre on fisheries expands considerably when a country is prepared to hold its position.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the European Commission was ready to accept that the CFP cannot work for Iceland, then it must also acknowledge that the CFP is not working for Ireland,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cIreland is an island nation with one of Europe\u2019s richest marine resources. Yet for decades we have seen our fishing opportunities diminish while others benefit from access to our waters. If Iceland\u2019s position was strong enough to be taken seriously in Brussels, ours should be too.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell said Iceland had held firm on fisheries control throughout, and that Brussels\u2019 willingness to offer concessions, (even to a country that went on to reject the talks altogether), said as much about the strength of that argument as it did about Iceland\u2019s leverage. He said Irish fishing communities had been making the same case for years, without the same hearing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell said the contrast would not be lost on Irish fishing communities: \u201cIrish fishermen have spent years being told the CFP is fixed and quota shares cannot move, through Brexit-driven losses, further quota reductions, fleet decommissioning, and the EU\u2019s failure to deliver on the long-standing Hague Preferences mechanism. That Brussels found flexibility for a country not yet inside the EU sits awkwardly against that record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fleet has endured repeated sacrifices in the name of European solidarity,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cWe cannot accept a situation where Ireland continues to absorb losses while a country outside the EU is offered protections that have never been extended to existing member states.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IFPO warned that Brussels\u2019 approach to Iceland would set a precedent with implications across European fisheries policy. If geography, dependence on fisheries and unique marine resources were enough to justify special arrangements for Iceland, the organisation argues, the same case applies to Ireland.<\/p>\n

The IFPO is calling on the Government to seek equivalent derogations for Ireland. This must include a rebalancing of the disproportionate Brexit settlement, under which Ireland contributed 40% of the total value of fish transferred to the UK under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). There must also be a renewed focus on achieving a fair share and restoring greater national control underpinned by more effective management of Irish fisheries. This is essential to support coastal communities and secure a fairer, sustainable share of the wealth generated from Irish waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe acknowledge and respect the steps taken by Iceland to maintain sovereignty and control over its natural resources,\u201c said Aodh O\u2019Donnell. \u201cWhile the EU may have failed in this instance, it must now move urgently to secure Iceland\u2019s cooperation in a comprehensive coastal sharing agreement for our shared mackerel stocks, and to address the longstanding practice of self-allocating inflated shares of this shared resource.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere cannot be one set of rules for a country outside the EU and another for Ireland,\u201d O\u2019Donnell added. \u201cIf Europe was prepared to recognise that the CFP does not fit Iceland, then it is time to recognise that it has also failed many Irish fishing communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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