An entrepreneur leading a €23 million project to turn a Mayo castle into an exclusive angling resort has called for an end to the activities of drift net fishermen along the estuary of the River Moy.
Mr Alan Maloney, one of a consortium of brothers planning to turn the 127-year-old Mount Falcon Castle and an adjacent two-mile stretch of the Moy into "the angling hub of the north-west", proposes that the drift netters be compensated for loss of earnings.
"Wild Atlantic salmon are a diminishing resource," Mr Maloney stated. "Their scarcity means they are far more valuable if they are allowed to run upriver where anglers can fish for them. It is absolutely imperative that the drift netting be halted."
The Maloney consortium received planning permission from Mayo County Council to expand Mount Falcon Castle and build 46 houses on the 100-acre demesne. Fishing entitlements on the Moy will be part of the package offered to homebuyers.
Mr Maloney said at the weekend it was essential for the venture and the future of salmon angling generally that drift netting be curbed.