THE slip hitch is indispensable for small boat skippers who need to cast off in a hurry, particularly if there is a risk of capsize. The Minister for Defence and the Marine, Mr Barrett, could have done with it over the last blew days, when he managed to tie himself in knots over the issue of safety at sea.

He may not be a fan of the Ashley knot manual, but for a seasoned politician like Sean Barrett the predicament comes as a particular surprise. A mere 36 hours after flying in by Air Corps helicopter to attend at his own request the private ceremony for six fishermen lost off Donegal, the Minister refused to take part in a discussion on RTE with two fishing industry representatives on the safety issue.

What had he to fear? Neither of the two participants is schooled in communications courses. Neither of them is a household name. One is Andrew Ward, the chairman of the coop in Greencastle to which the six missing men belonged the other, Caitlin Ui Aodha, is a qualified Cob Waterford skipper, married to a fisherman, who had attended the removal of one of three crew lost off Dunmore East this weekend.

"For a Minister of the Marine to use such a programme as his own vehicle is unacceptable," Mr Ward, chairman of the Foyle Fishermen's Co op in Greencastle, Co Donegal, said in a strongly worded statement the morning after.

In refusing to take part in a debate, as agreed earlier, the Minister was guilty of "gross interference in the national television service", Mr Ward said. What's more, by insisting on a change of format the Minister had prevented the two participants from rebutting the "gross distortions, misrepresentations and falsehoods which he made" regarding a "much neglected industry", Mr Ward added.

"Affable", "laid back" and "unflappable" were qualities attributed to Mr Barrett in this newspaper last May when he was appointed to the Cabinet to succeed Mr Hugh Coveney.

Unlike Mr Coveney, who resigned over the Bord Gais affair, the insurance broker with 14 years Dail experience and a junior ministry in sport was known to have no great interest in the sea, much beyond his constituency boundary of Dun Laoghaire pier. It was expected that his main interest would be in defence, with particular reference to the view from above in Air Corps flying machines.

Certainly, his first few months in office passed by without so much as a toe in the water. Yet by November one of the worst years for accidents at sea came to a head when six young Donegal fishermen were lost, without trace, in the Greencastle fishing vessel, the Carrickatine.

Across Dublin Bay a Wexford man also died when the Scarlet Buccaneer hit rocks off Howth. Early last week the toll rose again, when three fishermen were reported missing in the gill netter, Jenalisa, off Dunmore East, bringing to 25 the number of fishermen lost at sea in the last 14 months.

Right up to January the Carrickatine search continued, with the Minister keeping in close touch, while also undertaking a little publicised 10 day "trade mission" to India.

Considerable resources, estimated at around £1 million, were put into the effort and yielded nothing. No one would have begrudged the money spent to try and relieve the anguish of the families. Yet there was a general acknowledgment that a fraction of the money spent before then, and a fundamental change in Government policy towards marine resources, could have helped prevent loss of life at sea.

The issues at stake extend beyond a worsening weather conditions off the Irish coast.

Such is the pressure to compete, within the "European pond" that whitefish skippers are taking greater risks in boats which they may not even own. Only one sector of the Irish fleet on mackerel has been fortunate enough to gear up, purchase state of the art new vessels, and lobby hard for fair quotas with private capital backed up by continued State support.

The Minister's recent statements, particularly his concern with conservation, have increased suspicions that his new review group on fishing vessel safety will fudge the fundamental issue the need for new boats and that it will be used as an excuse to tie up more Irish whitefish vessels and let other EU member states in.

Already, as the Irish Fishermen's Federation pointed out yesterday, some 4,000 tonnes from the fleet are being decommissioned or "taken out" at the EU's request, to make room for an additional 8,000 tonnes in Spanish fishing capacity in the Irish Box.

The industry has called on the Minister to "bite the bullet" and give permission for new boats, built with EU and State support.

There are two views now on Mr Barrett's performance in Leeson Lane. One is that he is the unfortunate inheritor of a small, under funded marine department reflecting a lack of commitment by previous governments to the marine sector and that he really is going to use the EU presidency to lobby for change when the Common Fisheries Policy is reviewed in 2002.

Ireland would have a strong case if Treaty of Rome principles were applied, given that it has 16 per cent of EU water, 5 per cent of catch and only 2 per cent of the European fleet.

The other view is that he has little confidence on the long term potential of the commercial fishing industry, a lack of confidence shared by his Department. One has only to look at the share out of EU structural funds. The bulk has been allocated to fish processing and aquaculture, with only 27 per cent going to fishing fleet "modernisation and renewal".

The Minister has said he does not wish to "play on people's tragedies", but there is a growing belief around the coastline that both he and his Department already have.