AN extensive Garda investigation into the affairs of the Southern Regional Fisheries Board led to this week's consultancy report on behalf of the Minister of State for the Marine.
This report does not deal with the substance of that investigation, but with the board's response to claims made against its staff and with general management.
Written by Mr Dermot Rochford, an organisation and personnel consultant, it involved reporting on the management and organisation of the board and the performance by it of each of its functions in relation to finances and staff.
The main recommendation that a commission be appointed to assume key functions of the board is the latest in a series of steps taken since The Irish Times reported on the Garda investigation last February.
That investigation was in turn prompted by evidence given in Waterford Circuit Court in December 1994 and a separate, but related, report to gardai by a former board chairman, Mr Bill Lawlor. The Garda file has been with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for over six months.
During that court hearing, Mr Michael Hickey (51), a Southern Regional Fisheries Board officer, spoke of victimisation of salmon fishermen and of "racketeering". The chairman, Mr Lawlor, who was also concerned about the claims, died suddenly the night before he was due to be interviewed by gardai.
That Mr Hickey should confirm the racketeering claims in response to questions from Judge Diarmuid Sheridan caused some surprise. Mr Hickey had no reason to be sympathetic to salmon fishermen. He had been attacked on four occasions by fishermen during patrols, and was in a wheel chair for some months following the last incident in July 1993.
The claims were denied by the board manager, Mr James Rogers who told The Irish Times that they were based on a "misunderstanding, if not a malicious attempt to undermine the board".
Mr Rogers welcomed the Garda investigation which ensued. He also said that the investigation was initiated at his request a claim disputed by the Garda team in Dungarvan.
The developments came as no surprise to a former board chairman, Mr Declan Hearne, however, and to two TDs who had been lobbying to bring the matter to official attention Mr Des O'Malley (PD) and Mr Austin Deasy (FG).
Mr Hearne, a drift net fishermen and member of the board since 1959 served as chairman between 1982 and 1984, and 1986 to 1989. He was vice chairman from 1991 to 1992. He told this newspaper a year ago of his unsuccessful attempts between 1983 and 1987 to have the claims investigated, culminating in a special board meeting held in Clonmel in April 1987.
Fishery officers working with the seven regional fisheries boards have wide powers to enforce the legislation within the 12 mile limit. Officers can seize equipment, take records and samples, board craft and "use such force as is necessary" in bringing a boat to port.
In 1989, a district justice in Youghal, Co Cork, warned that there would be fatalities if the bad feeling continued.
Since last year the Minister of State, Mr Gilmore, has interviewed Mr Hickey and has introduced amending legislation in the Oireachtas to enable him to take action, if necessary. The next step is to appoint a commission, after the statutory notice has expired.
