Mná na Mara Widens Its Horizons

Embargo - Monday 20 January 2003

Following its inaugural conference in Enniscorthy last weekend, Mná na Mara delegates are to develop a nationwide coastal network for fishing and fish farming communities around the Irish coast. An interim National Executive has now been put in place with members from the East, South and West coasts.

Mná na Mara (Women of the Sea) has existed since the 1960s on a regional basis as a support for women in coastal fishing communities, but with the many challenges facing the industry at European and International level the organisation has decided to develop a more prominent national profile.

Margaret Downey-Harrington Mná na Mara said ‘that it is time to widen our horizons with a view to ensuring that the traditions that have sustained our coastal communities for generations are protected and passed on to the next generation as their heritage’.

The conference, which was organised jointly by Mná na Mara, Castletownbere and BIM, was officially opened by Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr. John Browne T.D.   Speaking at the event Minister Browne stated ‘the Government recognises the need for a viable fishing industry, and a supportive coastal community network to that industry’

Avril Doyle, MEP who attended the meeting assured delegates that her group in Brussels ‘would continue to fight for Ireland’s rights’ and said that ‘in the interests of conservation we must ensure that areas like the Irish Box are not plundered’.

A delegation from Mná na Mara will attend the forthcoming Conference on “The Role of Women in the Fisheries Sector’ in Brussels on 23^rd and 24^th January. 

Presentations were heard on many topics relating to the industry, with representatives from BIM, RNLI, Bank of Ireland and LOST (Loved Ones of Sea Tragedies).  The conference was co-chaired by Margaret Downey-Harrington and Rosemary O’Driscoll of Mná na Mara, Castletownbere and Richard McCormick, BIM’s Marine Services Manager.

For further press information contact:  Margaret Downey-Harrington 087-257099

 -ENDS-