"Irish Fishing quota wiped out-Europe sounds death knell for Irish fishing" Michael Collins TD

"Fishing families are waking up this morning to news that their livelihoods are almost certainly gone, there is shock and devastation throughout the sector. In simple terms this is an attack on Irish sovereignty, it amounts to an EU diktat with devastating consequences. I am calling on the Taoiseach Michael Martin to Instruct Minister Dooley the minister to withdraw from any negotiations and initiate a challenge to this in the European Courts of Justice immediately""

Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins TD has said the decision at the EU Fisheries Council represents a death knell for the Irish fishing industry, warning that thousands of livelihoods in coastal communities are now under direct threat.

Ireland has emerged from the Council with a loss of some 57,000 tonnes in fishing quota for 2026, delivering what industry sources estimate as a €94m blow to the sector.

Deputy Collins said the outcome proves that the Common Fisheries Policy has fundamentally failed Ireland.

“This is an appalling betrayal of Irish fishermen and coastal communities,” he said. “Once again, Ireland is being asked to accept devastating cuts, while other countries continue to exploit our waters. The result will be boats tied up, businesses closing, and families losing their livelihoods.”

He said the blocking of the Hague Preferences, designed to protect fishing-dependent nations like Ireland, marked a dangerous turning point.

“For the first time in almost 50 years, safeguards that were meant to prevent this very outcome have been cast aside,” Deputy Collins said. “This is not conservation. This is the destruction of an indigenous Irish industry.”

Deputy Collins added that Irish fishermen had complied with some of the strictest conservation measures in Europe, yet were being punished for failures elsewhere.

“The EU continues to scapegoat Ireland, while overfishing by non-EU countries goes unchecked,” he said. “If Europe is serious about conservation, then there must be no compliance and no trade for those who ignore the rules.”

He said Independent Ireland would continue to press for urgent action to defend Ireland’s fishing communities and to end what he described as a fundamentally unfair system that favours larger member states at Ireland’s expense.