Fair Seas joined members of the Irish Environmental Pillar at European Maritime Day in Cork, a key two-day event that brings together voices from across Europe to discuss the future of the ocean.
We were delighted to have an exhibition stand in the main hall, where we had the opportunity to speak with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister Darragh O’Brien about the importance of well-managed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for restoring ocean health and meeting EU biodiversity goals.
In the afternoon, we held a constructive meeting with Minister of State Timmy Dooley, who was highly engaged and open to ideas. Discussions touched on bottom trawling in sensitive areas such as seagrass beds, MPA legislation, and the need for better management of Ireland’s current Natura 2000 sites. Minister Dooley has invited the group to a follow-up meeting in Dáil Éireann for a more in-depth discussion on these issues.
Later in the day, we met with European Commissioner Costas Kadis, who was equally receptive and took note of several key concerns. He acknowledged the lack of management plans for Ireland’s existing marine protected areas ‘Special Areas of Conservation’, and committed to raising this with his counterparts in the Irish Government.
It was a valuable day of connection and advocacy, and we look forward to continuing these conversations as we work to secure stronger protections for Ireland’s ocean.
SWAN: The meetings today with Minister Dooley and Commissioner Kadis highlighted the importance of environmental NGOs sharing expertise with and making recommendations at both the national and EU levels. Commissioner Kadis’ commitment to raise Ireland’s lack of management plans with Irish ministers was an important outcome. The collaboration of networks like Fair Seas and IEN ensures that the concerns shared by numerous Irish marine conservation organisations are highlighted.
Grace Carr Irish Wildlife Trust: It was encouraging that Commissioner Kadis agreed with us that the Common Fisheries Policy has the tools we need to help create healthy marine ecosystems and a sustainable economy. Article 17 (if implemented) should reward sustainable fishing and incentivise the fishing industry to move to less destructive practices. Ireland does not fully implement this article and its enforcement should be a priority. The best and quickest way to see real change on the ground is to effectively enact what we already have, rather than create new papers and reports.
Oonagh Duggan Head of Policy and Advocacy at BirdWatch Ireland: I showed both Minister Dooley and Commissioner Kadis a map of the Irish, Celtic and North Seas and the areas of interest for offshore wind development and asked him where’s the space for seabirds. We absolutely need offshore renewables to get off fossil fuels but I highlighted to both that seabirds, marine mammals and other biodiversity are desperately in need of protection and restoration of populations. I told them how concerned we were about cumulative impacts of ORE and the fact that there wasn’t a clear pathway to mitigate those impacts. I also mentioned that Ireland is very late in designating marine Special Protection Areas for seabirds 46 years after the Birds Directive came into being in 1979 and made this a legal obligation. We also need avian sensitivity mapping to help target ORE to areas that are less sensitive to seabirds in Irish waters. Hopefully, they will listen and speed up action for marine biodiversity in the same way they’re ratcheting up action on ORE.
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