Erne Estuary - Threat to Free Access

Rarely has so much attention been focused on the future of the salmon fishery on the River Erne as it is attracting in the opening years of the present century. And rarely has there been such need for caution in considering the long term effects of hastily conceived plans based on one simple motivation, profit, whether profit for an individual or group of individuals.

To set matters in perspective, one cardinal point must be emphasized, the rivers of Ireland belong to the people of Ireland, not to any single corporation, be it a semi-state institution such as the ESB, or a privately held enterprise.

The public ownership of the salmon fishery on the Erne estuary was confirmed in the Kildoney Men's case. Anything which impinges on that right must be scrutinized in the light of that judicial ruling. Any decision to override the public interest and to restrict access to the estuary must be questioned.

On that one point alone, a proposal to place a marina, operated by the Northern Regional Fisheries Board, at the Great Pool of Ballyshannon, close to the Mall Quay, deserves detailed investigation.

Public access to the Great Pool has been recognized for time immemorial. In later times a steep access pathway to the Pool was preserved, even at the height of the construction of the ESB hydro-electric dam at Cathleen's Falls, when a makeshift rail line served to carry excavated rock from the tailrace to a landfill below Sheegus Hill.

And it was not only the estuary fishermen who used the path. It was used by anyone who desired to use it.

In actual fact, the field through which access to the pathway was gained, was owned by the local Presbyterian Church, and there was never any question of restricting access.

The NRFB,Northern Regional Fisheries Board, the promoters of the proposed marina, bought the field, and promptly erected a no trespassing sign.

The board is a semi-state body. It wasn't even in existence when the salmon fishermen fought and won their case, a win not simply in their own interest but in the interest of all Irish fishermen. The board chooses to ignore their right, and the right of the general public.

Thirty pieces of silver bought the Potter's Field, and it was used for a charitable purpose. How many pieces bought the Presbyterian field, and why is it being used in an attempt to extinguish a right of way that William Allingham knew so well, as the following lines show:

"The boat comes straining on her net, and heavily she creeps,
Cast off, cast off-she feels the oars, and to her berth she sweeps;
Now fore and aft keep hauling, and gathering up the clew,
Till a wave of silver salmon rolls in among the crew
Then may the sit with pipes alit, and many a joke and yarn;
Adieu to Belashanny, and the winding banks of Erne!"