The Government has rejected the Scottish Government’s threat of “enforcement action” against Irish fishing vessels in disputed seas between the two countries.

It centres on the area around Rockall – a uninhabited rock some 400km west of the Donegal coast.

Ownership of the rock has long been in dispute between Ireland and the UK; however, Irish fishing vessels have operated there for decades under the Common Fisheries Policy which provides all EU member states with equal access to Union waters.

The dispute re-surfaced after the UK voted to leave the EU and has been the subject of ongoing talks between officials from both Governments over the past two years.

"Enforcement action"

This evening, the Tánaiste Simon Coveney said he had received a letter from the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop threatening to deploy vessels in the area to take “enforcement action” against any Irish vessels found fishing within 12 miles of Rockall.

The letter said Scotland would take the action from this weekend onwards.

In a statement the Department of Foreign Affairs said: “The position of the Irish Government has been and remains that the waters around Rockall form part of [European] Union waters under the Common Fisheries Policy, to which the principle of equal access for the vessels of all EU Member States applies.”

It noted that “Irish vessels have operated unhindered in the Rockall zone for many decades fishing haddock, squid and other species.”

Sovereignty

Minister Coveney said the “longstanding position of the Irish Government is that Irish vessels are entitled to access to Rockall waters.”

“We have never recognised UK sovereignty over Rockall and accordingly we have not recognised a territorial sea around it either,” he said.

“We have tried to work positively with the Scottish authorities and to deal with sensitive issues that flow from it in a spirit of kinship and collaboration.

“We very much regret that matters have reached this point and intend to do everything possible to achieve a satisfactory resolution.”

Dispute

The United Kingdom claims to have formally taken possession of Rockall in the name of the British crown on the 18th of September 1955. It sought to formally annex it under its 1972 Island of Rockall Act.

The claim was never recognised by Ireland – although the Government has never sought to claim sovereignty for itself.

The position of successive Irish Governments has been that ocean rocks and Skerries like Rockall have no significance for establishing legal claims to mineral rights in seabed or to fishing rights in the surrounding seas.

Iceland and Denmark have both attempted to claim the rock as their own at different times.

Talks

The department said Irish officials have used the talks with their Scottish counterparts to note that there is no basis for excluding Irish fishing vessels from the Rockall waters as they are legitimately pursuing EU  fishing opportunities in these waters and have done so unhindered for decades.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed said: “The Tánaiste and I have worked very closely to avoid a situation whereby Irish fishing vessels who have been and continue to fish for haddock, squid and other species in the 12 mile area around Rockall, are under the unwarranted threat of “enforcement action” by the Scottish Government.”

“However, following this sustained unilateral action by them, I have no option but to put our fishing industry on notice of the stated intention of the Scottish Government.”

He said he “held a difficult but necessary meeting” with representatives of the fishing industry today to advise them of the threat.

“The industry representatives understood the situation facing Irish vessels but are justifiably concerned at this action being taken by a fellow Member States where our industries are closely connected,” he said.