Ennis--"of course it is, and we give it all the facilities
that we can.... But the Galway fisheries, where one would expect
to find plenty of fish, are totally neglected."
Sir Rowland Hill--"What is the reason of that?"
Mr. Ennis-- "I will endeavour to explain. I had occasion a few
nights ago to speak to a gentleman in the House of Commons with
regard to an application to the Fishery Board for 2000L. to
restore the pier at Buffin, in Clew Bay, and I said, 'Will you
join me in the application? I am told it is a place that swarms
with fish, and if we had a pier there the fishermen will have
some security, and they will go out.' The only answer I received
was, 'They will not go out; they pay no attention whatever to the
fisheries; they allow the fish to come and go without making any
effort to catch them....'"
Mr. Ayrton-- "Do you think that if English fishermen went to the
west coast of Ireland they would be able to get on in harmony
with the native fishermen?"
Mr. Ennis-- "We know the fact to be, that some years ago, a
company was established for the purpose of trawling in Galway
Bay, and what was the consequence? The Irish fishermen, who
inhabit a region in the neighbourhood of Galway, called Claddagh,
turned out against them, and would not allow them to trawl, and
the Englishmen very properly went away with their lives."
Sir Rowland Hill-- "Then they will neither fish themselves nor
allow any one else to fish!"
Mr.
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