When the new Cabinet was drawn up on the back of a beer mat just over a year ago, one of the more controversial positions was that given to a former government chief whip, Mr Dermot Ahern, writes Lorna Siggins.
For a brief couple of weeks, the portfolio of Communications and Natural Resources caused a bit of a furore. Two very separate functions had been amalgamated into one new Department, and the existing marine responsibility had been quietly dropped.
There were protests and a subsequent agreement to restore "Marine" to the Department's title. Proof that there had been a beer mat in there somewhere was all but confirmed when the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, was asked to comment on the row. The only reason that the marine function had not been included, the Taoiseach said earnestly, was because it would have made the Department's title far too long.
June, 2002, when the new Ministers were given their seals of office, could not have been a more crucial time for the new Government to give a clear signal of intent on several economic and social issues. One was the looming reform of the Common Agricultural Policy; another was review of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.
In sharp contrast to EU accession in 1973, the new administration had the benefit of a well-researched case for fish policy reform. The National Strategy Review Group on the Common Fisheries Policy, established in 1998, had not only exposed the flaws of a policy driven less by "conservation" and more by the need to supply continental Europeans with cheap fish; it had also drawn up a series of enlightened proposals on sustainable fisheries management.
All that was missing was a couple of very persuasive statistics, such as the Eurostat calculation that whereas the State had benefited by €30 billion in transfers during the first three decades of membership, some €120 billion worth of fish had been caught by European fleets in Irish waters. Of course that would have been a little too political when the new Government was making a second attempt to pass the Nice Treaty.
When interviewed for this newspaper on his new brief in July of last year, Minister Dermot Ahern denied that the Government had already abandoned any hope of a positive outcome for Ireland in relation to the new Common Fisheries Policy. Diplomatic activity was taking place and the Taoiseach would be involved, he asserted. He also dismissed as "purely a discussion document" a plan leaked to this newspaper shortly after the last election to shed key areas of responsibility in the marine sector to one or several agencies. This was just a little over five years since his own party has promised to "upgrade" the existing Department of the Marine if it was returned to power.
Predictably, the Taoiseach never did throw in his oar on fish policy. And even as the new ministry was established in Leeson Lane, Dublin, plans were being drawn up to shed some of the key marine functions with minimal consultation. There was a logic to this: the Minister has 53 bodies under his aegis, and responsibility for key areas ranging from energy to broadcasting policy. The first effects of the revised EU fish policy are now hitting the fishing industry, worth €445 million annually in exports. The challenge to the Irish Box by Spain is still unresolved, and the new EU "days at sea" limitation on fishing effort has turned Killybegs and Greencastle in Co Donegal into ghost towns.
Shore jobs have been badly hit, pubs deserted, and there is a very real risk that the measure will be extended right around the coast.
Scottish ports are also suffering. However, the British government has at least introduced a £40 million sterling scrapping scheme to allow Scottish fishing skippers to quit with much heartbreak, but also more dignity.
Other EU proposals which will hit small boats hardest appear to be fulfilling a vision outlined by former EU fisheries commissioner, Ms Emma Bonino, back in 1996, to transform fishing from an economic activity sustaining coastal communities to one run by multinational companies. The EC's "conservation" tag for such proposals is being challenged by a growing number of scientists, who are admitting that there are massive uncertainties in estimating fish stocks. Over-regulation by the EU will increase the margin of error, given that "virtual population analysis" requires accurate catch data.
A leading Irish international fisheries scientist, Dr David Griffith, recently told a British House of Lords select committee that national control of fish stocks was a more effective way of managing fisheries than the common resource principle. This was because political courage was required.
Lucky for Minister Ahern then that he is party to a system that doesn't require any courage. He can throw his hands up and blame the EU Commissioner, Dr Franz Fischler. If and when he finds the time.