Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2012
577 Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the rights that persons who hold fishing licences in Northern Ireland have to fish in the waters of this State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9592/12]
View answerIn accordance with the ‘Voisinage Agreement' between Ireland and the United Kingdom, registered fishing vessels from Northern Ireland are permitted to fish within Ireland's exclusive fishery limits on the same basis and under the same conditions as Irish registered vessels, for as long as Irish registered vessels enjoy similar reciprocal rights to fish within the exclusive fishery limits of the United Kingdom in the waters surrounding Northern Ireland. This Agreement applies to all species of fish. The Voisinage Agreement is a so-called ‘neighbourhood agreement' under the London Fisheries Convention 1964 and was memorialised by an exchange of letters between Ireland and the United Kingdom in 1965.
