Waterford Port locks the North Wharfs

col o

Tuesday, February 21st 2006
Waterford Port Company have blocked fishermen's access to the North Wharves in Waterford City.
Gates leading to the wharfs have been locked and the skipper and crew of a trawler currently berthed at the facility are unable to gain access to their boat.
The closure follows a High Court decision last November to allow the Port to complete the sale of the wharfs to a Cork based developer.
Denis O'Flaherty is from O.F. Fishing who own a number of fishing boats that use the site to land fish.
Fisherman Seamus O'Flaherty says they are also disappointed that Minister Martin Cullen has not been in touch with them following their meeting with him last month.
A notice on the locked gates says that vessels currently using the North Wharves may use facilities at Belview.
However Seamus O'Flaherty says Belview is totally unsuitable for their needs.



Looks like the port authority have up'd the ante.Maybe a wee war has started:D

merlante

Those fisherman have been going for ages. Just hanging around for the payoff, no doubt.

A little bit of a redundancy, me thinks, while there's so much money floating about. Never might what the holdup might do to Waterford.

col o

I was wondering what is the likely timeframe for their appeal to go through the supreme court.I'm thinking carrickmines all over again.

trishw78

ssssshhhh McCann might hear you

meldrew

Another example of people from outside Waterford holding up the development of the city , it is obvious all they are looking for is money and they dont care how long this dispute will drag on

col o

Problem is if some issue arises our own will be at it too.Remember the dispute the taxi drivers had with the council?They threatened to picket the North Quays.I'd say the only reason they didn't was there was nothing to picket.

merlante

col o wrote:

Problem is if some issue arises our own will be at it too.Remember the dispute the taxi drivers had with the council?They threatened to picket the North Quays.I'd say the only reason they didn't was there was nothing to picket.

The problem is that not all of the socialists from the 70's, 80's are dead yet.

Where else, in the entire world, would a 10 year (or thereabouts) strike be allowed to grind one of a country's major ports to a standstill. Waterford Port was decimated by such a strike years ago. In the 20th century, Waterford has declined from 3rd largest port in the country to 5th or 6th.

col o

merlante wrote:

The problem is that not all of the socialists from the 70's, 80's are dead yet.

Where else, in the entire world, would a 10 year (or thereabouts) strike be allowed to grind one of a country's major ports to a standstill. Waterford Port was decimated by such a strike years ago. In the 20th century, Waterford has declined from 3rd largest port in the country to 5th or 6th.

Here,Here,

IMO this has left a stain on Waterford.There still there as you said.I remember reading a post on Politics.ie where someone asked 'isn't Waterford the only part of the country srill electing Workers Party councillors' or something to that effect.

What makes me laugh about so called socialists is thieir outrage at 'junkets' paid by the taxpayer.Yet members of socialist parties in Ireland have gone on junkets to the Soviet Union ,North Korea which have ultimately been paid for by the the citizems of these countries.But you don't here too much about that.

meldrew

Ah come on now lads dont be always knocking the brothers , somone has to stand up to THE MAN , what makes me laugh about these socialists etc is most of them could'nt work into a fit but they're great fellas to talk about it .

Aquos76

I personally think that John halligan from the workers party does a great job for the "local man" on the street. He had successfully carried on where the late Martin O Regan left off.

merlante

Aquos76 wrote:

I personally think that John halligan from the workers party does a great job for the "local man" on the street. He had successfully carried on where the late Martin O Regan left off.

Halligan works like a Trojan, and many of the WP types are very hard workers, and genuine servants of their constituents -- total respect.

I see them as being a positive aspect of a very negative movement, that has brought Waterford City to its knees on numerous occasions throughout the 70's and 80's. Having the port shut down for a decade took the biscuit.

And now these bastards who are against the Brewery make me wonder if it's the same people. I don't call them bastards because they're against the Brewery, but because, as usual, they are trying to deprive the public to protect their own vested interests

peepsbates

meldrew wrote:

Another example of people from outside Waterford holding up the development of the city , it is obvious all they are looking for is money and they dont care how long this dispute will drag on

a lot of the fishermen are from waterford

meldrew

That might be so but the main objectors are two brothers from Fethard in Co Wexford

merlante

Who cares where they're from? Money grabbing bastards!

peepsbates

merlante wrote:

Who cares where they're from? Money grabbing bastards!

have u nothing civil to say?they aint money grabbin they are standing up for themselves imo

merlante

peepsbates wrote:

have u nothing civil to say?they aint money grabbin they are standing up for themselves imo

Ah, there's that anti-authoritarian, Waterford sentiment we know and love.

As far as I know, and I could be wrong, these fishermen were given a year's notice to vacate the wharf. That's a year to find somewhere new to berth. In the old days the boys would have been out on their ear on a week's notice. What "rights" are these guys standing up for? How are they being wronged?

The Port of Waterford sold the old wharf to developers, the same as they did in Dublin and hundreds of other cities, and now the fishermen that have been given a years notice are protesting and taking them to court. Am I missing something here, or are these guys just trying to con a quick buck the Irish way?

shanethemofo

meldrew wrote:

Ah come on now lads dont be always knocking the brothers , somone has to stand up to THE MAN.

The Port isnt owned by the government or any multi national company so this comment is highly irrelevant

col o

peepsbates wrote:

have u nothing civil to say?they aint money grabbin they are standing up for themselves imo

I think the reality of the situation is that they actually don't have any rights to berth at the port.The specific area they are berthed in has had a research ship there for several years.For many years before this no trawlers berthed at all.The only exception is New Years and Bad weather.These Wexford trawlers are a relatively New addition.If I am not mistaken the Port Company actually done them a favour by letting them stay here.They are also being allowed berth further down stream.Plus they have been given a years official notice.Plus they North Quays plan is not news.It was announced five years ago.I'm curious as to where the berthed before they berthed at the Quays.Why can't they go back there.Probably because of Money.In fact the more I think about it.They're not fishermen they're travellers.

meldrew

shanethemofo wrote:

The Port isnt owned by the government or any multi national company so this comment is highly irrelevant

If you read it properly I was referring to the trade unionists and not the two brothers who are causing the trouble down there at the moment , Maybe I was just being sarcastic

Bards

Don't forget they had to settle a very large bill with the taxman for under payment of tax to the tune of €1,000,000

Now if only they used this kinda money to buy themselves some land near the river and constructed a purpose-built facility. No wait that would cost them money!!

Imagine if a manufacturing company or small business demanded that they be given a site for free otherwise they would go out of business what would people have to say then.

Also don't forget that their raw material costs them almost nothing.. They get their fish from the sea and not from a fish farm which they have to re-stock

Rant Over!!!

peepsbates

Bards wrote:

Don't forget they had to settle a very large bill with the taxman for under payment of tax to the tune of €1,000,000

Now if only they used this kinda money to buy themselves some land near the river and constructed a purpose-built facility. No wait that would cost them money!!

Imagine if a manufacturing company or small business demanded that they be given a site for free otherwise they would go out of business what would people have to say then.

Also don't forget that their raw material costs them almost nothing.. They get their fish from the sea and not from a fish farm which they have to re-stock

Rant Over!!!

so it costs almost nothing? what about nets,fuel,food,ice, insurance,wages to crew and usually more than 1 owner to pay each time the boat goes to sea regardless of how much they catch. i worked on a trawler for nearly 2 years and made bugger all due to expenses and quotas. a lot of boats aint making very much for 8/9 mths of the year.

Bards

peepsbates wrote:

so it costs almost nothing? what about nets,fuel,food,ice, insurance,wages to crew and usually more than 1 owner to pay each time the boat goes to sea regardless of how much they catch. i worked on a trawler for nearly 2 years and made bugger all due to expenses and quotas. a lot of boats aint making very much for 8/9 mths of the year.

But if they underpaid tax by €1,000,000 (inc penalaties) they must be making something!!!

I am only talking about this company not other smaller fishermen.. I agree some of the smaller players have it hard but the bigger boys with multiple large trawlers can make a lot of money.

You don't see the smaller players holding up development... only this crowd who are robbing you and me by not paying tax

peepsbates

Bards wrote:

But if they underpaid tax by €1,000,000 (inc penalaties) they must be making something!!!

I am only talking about this company not other smaller fishermen.. I agree some of the smaller players have it hard but the bigger boys with multiple large trawlers can make a lot of money.

You don't see the smaller players holding up development... only this crowd who are robbing you and me by not paying tax[/QUOTE

yea i get ya;) some of the bigger owners do make a fair bit i thought u meant fishing in general so if they did underpay that much then fair nuff. most of the boats ive seen scrape by for the year

meldrew

You're using the same argument the farmers use to justify the majority paying little or no tax

peepsbates

im just sayin most small fishermen/boats dont make a whole lot from what ive seen.it costs a small fortune just to get a boat to sea and if the catch is bad then the boat and crew make no money. as regards tax, well we all got to pay tax, as i said if they did underpay their tax then fair enough.

DilbertPartII

peepsbates wrote:

im just sayin most small fishermen/boats dont make a whole lot from what ive seen.it costs a small fortune just to get a boat to sea and if the catch is bad then the boat and crew make no money. as regards tax, well we all got to pay tax, as i said if they did underpay their tax then fair enough.

Didn't Ireland give up a lot of its fishery waters to Spain when they joined the EU or something (or the EC as it was at the time)? Smart move for an island nation...

merlante

DilbertPartII wrote:

Didn't Ireland give up a lot of its fishery waters to Spain when they joined the EU or something (or the EC as it was at the time)? Smart move for an island nation...

Yeah, then again every other country gave up some of their hard cash to build roads and god knows what else in our basket case of a country...