Environmentalists' claims that Ireland is involved in an inhumane and unethical bid to allow whaling have been strongly rejected by the Irish Commissioner for Whaling who drew up proposals on whale-hunting.
The Commissioner, Mr Michael Canny, who chairs the international body governing whaling, said last night that "whaling is out of control" and insisted his proposals would conserve whales.
Although a moratorium has existed on commercial whaling since 1986, two "exceptions" allow Norway to continue to catch whales under limited circumstances; the second allows any country to catch whales for scientific purposes, and Japan avails of this provision.
"Under our proposals, all whaling would come under the control of the International Whaling Commission. Whaling would then be limited to coastal waters, the numbers would be controlled and international trade would be banned," Mr Canny said.
According to him, since 1992 Japan and Norway have caught 383 whales worldwide. Last year they caught 1,043, and Norway announced in November it would increase its take by an extra 150 in 1998.
However, wildlife campaigners yesterday condemned the proposals, saying Japan and Norway would be allowed to catch whales within 200 miles of their coastlines.
They warned that the vast majority of whales spent some time in coastal waters, so the Irish plan could expose virtually the entire worldwide whale population to hunting. Mr Chris Stroud, of the Whaling and Dolphin Conservation Society, described the existing proposals as a dangerous development dressed up as a conservation initiative.
"There is no need to kill these whales, and there is no way to kill them without cruelty," he added.