The People Voted For Change

'The People voted for change' is being repeated ad nauseam here in Ireland, especially by Sinn Fein supporters. One is tempted to reply, 'have they not noticed that change happens all the time, and increasingly in spades?' Much of it is thoroughly undesirable from my point of view, such as the introduction of abortion and homosexual 'marriage'. More generally, all sorts of people are complaining of all sorts of other things, most genuinely the shortage and cost of housing; but this is a direct result of the banks' failure, and didn't we all complain when they were bailed out?

      Vacuous slogans are unfortunately the stuff of politics, and as the world has become more complex and inter-dependent, it becomes correspondingly more difficult to engage with all its complexities. It is a great deal easier to opt for whatever populist short-cuts are on offer; this is why parliamentary democracy is a good idea. One elects whichever politician comes nearest to gaining one's confidence, to do the business of politics on one's behalf, leaving one free to get on with the actual business of living!

     However, the actual business of politics in any kind of real democracy cannot be merely a matter of the survival of the fittest, barging on and getting their way regardless of other people and their rights, in the manner of a fascist dictator, anymore than any society worthy of the name can accept it as a pattern for the actual business of living. Real democratic politics are a matter of making the effort to listen to and engage with people on all sides, of genuinely seeking truth and justice for all. The 'on all sides' bit is crucial - not just 'on our side'. Such is the essence of catholicism, as opposed to sectarianism.

     It's not at all easy, and of course 'Catholics' can fail and lapse into sectarianism themselves. Many of us do not even know the meaning of the word 'catholic'. Many of us do vaguely know, but still fail to live it out, which is worse. Nonetheless, a radical kind of openness and kindness is noticeable in cultures fortunate enough to have been shaped by it; indeed the whole European project is so shaped, based upon Catholic social doctrine, set up by a group largely of Catholics and with the crown of Mary, twelve stars, as its emblem. If you don't believe me, ask Mr Farrage. 

      Now regardless of that, by all accounts this Julian Smith, who has just been fired as Secretary for Northern Ireland, is someone who tries to apply such principles, and has thereby earned widespread respect there. Firing him is an extremely bad and ominous signal, as we seem to be getting into the endgame with regard to Brexit. 

     I hope it is not just that he was born in Scotland, but he seems to lack the narrow and arrogant nationalism that is apparently a prerequisite for being a member of Mr Johnson's Government, which seems to be setting on a course of confrontation with Europe over Ireland. It will challenge us very deeply to define more clearly what the EU means to us and how we understand Ireland's relationship with it. As such a challenge, it is to be welcomed, but it won't be easy.

     We have to avoid fighting fire with fire. This is why the prospect of a potentially populist and nationalistic party in Government in Ireland is not appetising. What else is on offer, other than everlasting talk and prevarication? It was partly because I could not answer questions of such a nature, and to immerse myself in the practical dilemmas that were even then beginning to define our times, that I settled to earn my living as a fisherman back in 1970s. The conditions of that game are of themselves therapeutic in this sense; either you catch fish or you don't, and no amount of codswallop will make any difference there. At least I have a pretty good grasp of the realities of fishing as a result, and it does indeed exemplify many of the dilemmas we are facing. 

     The first lesson I learnt, beyond doubt and which I have referred to repeatedly in this blog, is that modern technology and unbridled capitalism are a lethal combination that is destroying our society and our planet. To find another way is indeed imperative, and in this sense I can sympathise with 'the people voting for change'. Probably not that many had this kind of change in mind, but at least the result of our recent election is quite promising in the respect that there is no 'winner'. Dialogue and sharing power is the only way ahead, and admittedly if the Shinners can do it in the North, why shouldn't they do it in the Republic?

     But what other 'steers' are there to be taken aboard from fishing? There are those who seem to think that if we can only get rid of the 'foreign' boats, à la Brexit, our problems will be solved. Of course, they will not. It is after all the 'Continental Shelf' we are talking about, continental fishermen have been working it for hundreds of years, we all depend on the continental market, and the fish themselves do not recognise frontiers. In fact the industry doesn't either, most of the big trawlers being owned by multi-national companies. On the other hand, it is true that these big trawlers have no long-term commitment; when they have one area fished out, they just look around for somewhere else.

The principle of subsidiarity needs to be respected; bigger boats should not be fishing where smaller ones can. Also the 'command and control' approach embodied in the Common Fisheries Policy is not working and never will work effectively in its present form; no matter how much fancy technology is thrown at it. The fact is that fishermen, if they are to survive, will find a way round it if they have to, especially the biggest and most destructive of them. The alternative is to find a way to enable them to 'own' it; it is best when the fishermen themselves own the boats, and learn to husband the resource for the longer term and to own the policy of conservation, which is then in their own interest.

The whole array of the problems of technology and of our economic set-up lies behind the politics of it, and there is no solution to anything that does not involve facing up to them; yet one can make a start in tackling immediate abuses. We have a situation in County Cork where our prime fishing port, Castletownbere, is being overwhelmed with big foreign trawlers, whose gear and supplies come from abroad in the lorries that take the fish way, doing no good to the local economy whatever. They make it difficult for the local boats to operate, and moreover we have a situation in which these can be prevented from fishing by the implementation of quotas, while few such restrictions are apparently imposed on the Spanish ships. These just land into the back of lorries with few checks. This has been going on for years. When Simon Coveney's father, as Minister for Fisheries, tried to do something about it, he was shafted.

The quota system itself is a bad joke. Everyone knows that if it was strictly enforced, the industry would mostly go broke. Box counts may be applied, but ineffectively with regard to what is in the boxes. The big trawlers are likely, for instance, to book monkfish as white pollack; then smaller boats fishing pollack have to book white pollack as black (saithe). Meanwhile Irish boats frequently have to dump species for which they have no quota and cannot get to market, such as dogfish or bluefin tuna.

One knows how the fishermen in France or Spain would react (and indeed have done) on the receiving end of such treatment. Ireland and Europe can and must be bigger. This case of Uefa and Manchester City shows the way to go; as someone said, football needs rules off the pitch as well as on it. City's response of 'scorn, outrage, denial' is classic these days, strongly calling to mind The Ducky and Mr Johnson, and the way we are now seeing his Government react to other European efforts to enforce the rules of law and genuine good management.

Another simple little move in the direction of sanity is the exclusion of boats over 18m from inside the six mile limit which is coming into effect this year. I would like to see it extended to fifty miles for vessels over 20m, while the 6 or 12 mile limit would be for boats under 15m. But the ultimate solution will not merely a matter of such restrictions, but also in the development of fishing methods that do not involve the use of large quatities of oil and the destructive effects of such fishing both on the sea-bed and fish stocks. I still dream of building a modern fishing boat that will fish mainly by jigging or droving, say for mackerel, pollack or tuna, using sails and hydrogen to get around and generate electricity.

Genuine engagement with others, at the same time taking aboard inconvenient truths, respect for nature and for justice; refusing to shut ourselves in silos; these are the kind of thing that will enable a new kind of politics and of living, and wouldn't one think that most people would agree if they had half a chance?

Cow Strand today.