The owner of the fishing vessel which left five Portuguese seamen at Kilrush, Co Clare, yesterday, has vehemently denied that the vessel's skipper mistreated the crew. Lorna Siggins and Pat Flynn report.
The five Portuguese sailors had to sleep in a building site yesterday after their captain dropped them off at a Co Clare fishing village.
Gardaí in Kilrush have confirmed that they received a call in the early hours of yesterday morning from the captain of the trawler. He informed them there had been "trouble" on board his boat and that he was dropping five men at Cappagh Pier.
The five left the vessel " in controversial circumstances" shortly after four a.m. yesterday and were found wandering around the quiet village of Cappagh. Their "unusual presence" in the tiny harbour was also notified to gardaí by locals.
The trawler docked near Kilrush, where the five sailors disembarked. When gardaí arrived at the scene, the fishermen informed them that they had been dropped off at the pier but were not very clear on the circumstances. It has since been established that the five had asked to leave the boat because of issues they had with the captain and conditions on board.
A Garda spokesman confirmed, "This is not a Garda matter. We did take details when we met with the five men, but they are EU nationals and are entitled to be here, so we have no issue with them. We did not receive a complaint from the captain about them, and they have made no complaint about him. This is no longer a matter for the gardaí."
The local chamber of commerce in Kilrush stepped in early yesterday and the five were given breakfast at a local supermarket
Mr Denis Nolan, of the chamber of commerce, said: "They have been in touch with their embassy and I believe that the officials there have contacted the men's families in Portugal to notify them of the situation."
Mr Paddy O'Malley, the owner of the boat, the Capall Bán, said that the five Portuguese were part of the complement on board which left Rossaveal, Co Galway, on Tuesday night. On Wednesday afternoon, the five had refused to work fish-hauling gear.
Mr O'Malley said the grievances were discussed during four hours of negotiations on board, and his skipper had offered a compromise, including a return to port once the gear was hauled. These conversations included interpretation by telephone by the men's Portuguese agent.
He says that the compromise was rejected by the crewmen, and the skipper had no choice but to cut the gear remaining in the water and head for the nearest feasible port, which was Kilrush.
Mr O'Malley said: "The vessel returned to sea approximately three hours later with the remaining five-man crew, including the skipper, to retrieve the remaining fishing gear if possible."
Mr O'Malley said he has had considerable experience of recruiting Portuguese nationals for his vessels.
He said he has always had an excellent relationship with them, the Portuguese embassy in Dublin, and with the Portuguese agent who arranges for them to come to Ireland.
He said the men had been flown to Ireland at his expense, given complete sets of oilskins, and cigarettes, where requested. There was plenty of food and water on board, he said.