Tributes have been paid to Kevin McHugh (60), the prominent fisherman and owner of the Atlantic Dawn supertrawler, who died of an undiagnosed illness in Dublin this week.
Former Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) chief executive Brendan O'Kelly described Mr McHugh as a pioneer who had helped the Irish fishing industry to expand at a critical period and who had never been afraid to take great risks.
"He was a bright young lad from Achill Island who we identified as a potential skipper, at a time when Ireland was under pressure to make its case for a share in the emerging European common fisheries policy," Mr O'Kelly said.
"It was always a privilege to work with him, and his passing is a great loss to the fishing industry," he added.
A postmortem was carried out on Mr McHugh at the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin yesterday to try to identify the cause of his short illness, which resulted in hospitalisation about three months ago.
Although Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD) has been suspected, the precise nature of the illness has not been confirmed.
His funeral is due to take place tomorrow in his adopted home of Killybegs, Co Donegal, following removal from Dublin tonight.
Minister of State for Transport Pat the Cope Gallagher has expressed "deep regret at the sad and untimely death of a leading fisherman and businessman", who had broken new ground in the fishing industry and provided employment for many years in south Donegal.
"I've known Kevin for 30 years and my thoughts are with his wife Vera and his family," Mr Gallagher said.
BIM chief executive Pat Keogh described Mr McHugh as a "man with vision, who blazed the trail for the Irish fishing industry at national and international level".
Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation chief executive Seán O'Donoghue, who also expressed sympathy to the McHugh family last night, said Mr McHugh had "always pushed the boat out", and was a fine businessman and skipper.
Mr McHugh, son of an electrician from Bullsmouth, Achill Island, Co Mayo, trained as a young fisherman with BIM and bought his first of many vessels with BIM support.
Having moved to Killybegs, he became a leading mackerel skipper, and his most recent vessels, including his largest ship, the 144m Atlantic Dawn, were built without State finance.
However, Mr McHugh did require State assistance to register and license the supertrawler on the Irish and European register, and this was to prove controversial.
The vessel fished off the west African state of Mauritania under a private agreement, and left the area altogether following a disagreement between the EU and Mauritania earlier this year.
The vessel has been fishing recently in the south Atlantic off the coast of Peru.
Mr McHugh's company, Atlantic Dawn Ltd, also has fish- processing interests, and Mr McHugh was former owner of the Bayview Hotel in Killybegs, which he modernised.
In addition to his wife Vera, Mr McHugh is survived by his three sons and daughter and extended family, including two brothers who are also leading skippers, Eamon and Michael, and his sister Sheila, who lives in Achill.
