GERRY HOGAN,
Madam, - As a city dweller who enjoys our native fish, I deplore the plight of our sea fishing industry. I also sympathise with Irish crews who have put fish on our tables at no small risk to themselves and are now facing ruin.
To think that this country had a "pearl of great price" in its fishing grounds that was the envy of the rest of Europe; an abundant source of natural food, free from chemical inputs and far superior to the artery-clogging alternatives. Thanks to our membership of the EU, this great asset has been squandered by European fleets through unrestricted over-fishing, which is another name for mindless greed. In addition, the EU wants to strip away any sense of ownership to which Ireland is morally entitled.
Would the poorer, less sophisticated but much tougher Ireland of pre-EU days have allowed foreigners to walk all over us in this matter the way our new found "friends" in Europe are doing? - Yours, etc.,
GERRY HOGAN,
Templeogue,
Dublin 16.