The SFPA  - a Unionists wet dream?

It seems the Irish Free State and institutions thereof will do almost anything to reinforce partition in Ireland, even if it’s at the detriment of Irish workers, the EU protocol and the rural economy.

To set the scene, over the last number of months fish processing workers in the port of Killybegs have been under siege from the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA). The SFPA has denied two fish processing factories the right to weigh hauls of blue whiting in-house. Instead, the catch must be separated from water and ice and weighed on the pier-side. Such a ridiculous process spoils the catch and renders the fish unfit for human consumption. Therefore, the haul has to be shipped elsewhere to be processed for non-human consumption products. Consequently, while my sympathies do not lie with the factory owners, scores of workers (native and immigrants) have been forced out of work with little recourse or options for compensation.

 

Initially this was blamed on an ‘over-interpretation of EU regulation’ on behalf of the SFPA, or that the EU-commission was forcing the SFPA to ramp-up compliance. However, and in light of recent events, such circumstances can be best understood when viewed through a financial lens. Indeed, it all comes down to a mistrust between government agencies, the EU commission and the bosses of local industry; i.e. the Free State government and SFPA fear a misreporting of weights and quotas from in-house factory weighing. This has become blatantly apparent when considering the latest extraordinary development in the whole debacle.

 

In the latest development fishing trawlers were permitted to unload their catch in the port of Derry, with the subsequent catch then being transported to the South by lorry for processing. Such a measure, although unnecessarily tedious and costly (for the environment and financially), is admirable in so far that it would allow workers to return to work as normal. However, in a startling new development the SFPA revoked all in-house weighing permits for the hauls coming from Derry. This was done on the basis that;

 

“the SFPA remains of the view that the landing took place outside of Ireland “

 The SFPA further add;

“Therefore, Art 61 (1) cannot be applied following transport from outside of Ireland to a permitted establishment in Ireland”

 

Such action taken on behalf of the SFPA serves to negate the EU protocol in Ireland and thereby reinforces partition and implements a hard-border in one fell swoop. In this way Irish workers and the rural economy are essentially under siege and ‘locked-out’ with no end in sight, in what is surely Free-State harassment and a game of cat and mouse with ever increasing stakes. Such a set of circumstances would surely constitute as a Unionists wet-dream. 

 

This then begs the question, who benefits and whose side are the SFPA on? Because it is certainly not the fishing industry, Irish workers, Irish rural economy, or indeed the environment. It seems they only have the interests of Britain and the wants of EU imperialism at heart. 

 

To conclude, unfortunately the powers that be in the South of Ireland (many Irish people included) are wholly entrenched and unwilling to envision a United Ireland. For the most part they just can't be bothered with all the hassle and somersaults. They see the North as separate, foreign and alien and will stop at nothing to further reinforce partition no matter what the cost. The reason for this is two fold: firstly, a United Ireland does not align with EU imperialist interests post-Brexit, and secondly it does not align with British interests post-Brexit. Perhaps the solution is simple (although easier said than done): Britain Out of Ireland and Ireland Out of the EU. 

 

~ Gamhain MacCionaoith

mí Aibreáin, 2022

Na Cealla Beaga, Éire