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MINISTER DARRAGH O’Brien has said this afternoon that his department has “no plans for a general cull of seals” and also distanced himself from a scheme that could provide licences for fishermen to shoot “problem seals”.
The minister’s clarification comes following a Dáil question last week by Michael Healy-Rae TD, who asked O’Brien about what the government was doing to “address the seal population problem” in Kerry.
O’Brien, who is Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, responded by saying that five Section 42 applications have been made this year in relation to seals.
Such applications allow for steps to be taken to stop protected wild animals from causing environmental damage.
In his reply, O’Brien said that three of the applications related to the shooting of seals from boats.
“There are concerns about this approach to seal management, given the potential safety concerns arising from using high-powered rifles on moving platforms,” the minister stated.
Nonetheless, my department is examining the potential for a pilot scheme which would test this approach and determine its efficacy in protecting fishermen’s catches.
The minister’s comments were reported by a number of news outlets with Pádraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust telling the Irish Examiner that such an approach would be “insane”.
In his tweets today, the minister appeared to distance himself from the pilot scheme, saying he “would not sign off on any pilot scheme which would involve fishermen shooting seals from a boat”.
For the avoidance of any doubt my Department has absolutely no plans for a general cull of seals as stated in the PQ response of Sept 15th & 23rd & I would not sign off on any pilot scheme which would involve fishermen shooting seals from a boat.
— Darragh O'Brien (@DarraghOBrienTD) September 28, 2020
A number of fishermen from the Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation (IFPO) who spoke to TheJournal.ie today also shared the view that the idea was “madness”. They also wanted to be clear however that the seal population is becoming a problem.
Patrick Murphy, a fisherman of 28 years from Castletownbere who is CEO of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, says there has been much misinformed commentary since the story of the minister’s comments broke.
He argues the Irish Wildlife Trust has tried to point the finger at over-fishing depleting fish stocks but that there is little evidence to back this up.
“If they are saying that the fish stocks are decimated? How is it that the seal population is growing, what are they eating? It doesn’t add up,” Murphy says.
Especially from the work that I do and the involvement I have with advisory councils, working with our members, the EU Parliament and the Commission, they’re putting up reports contrary to what that man is saying.
In his Dáil reply, O’Brien said there are about 8,000-10,000 grey seals and about 5,000 harbour seals in Ireland. He compared it to Scotland where there are estimated to be over 100,000 grey seals.
Murphy says that official estimates of the Irish seal population wildly underestimate how many there actually are.
He adds that managing the Irish seal population should be the same as any other wild animal and should be treated with the same seriousness.
Look, there is a problem with the seals. Just like when there’s a problem with the deer population or when there’s been a problem with badgers, or when there’s a problem with foxes or when there’s a problem with dogs running wild and worrying sheep. Nature is nature.
“Instead of these crazy stories and people shouting off the top of our heads without actually backing up what they’re saying, they should be going to the people with the proper information and the people you should be talking to are the Marine Institute and National Parks and Wildlife Service.”
Murphy says there have been several cases of hungry seals attacking swans and he also pointed to an incident abroad where a seal grabbed a young girl from a dock.
“The problem is that there are so many seals out there now there’s no natural predators for these and this population of animals is going unchecked. There’s going to be huge repercussions for this if it continues that way.”
There was a video that was sent to me about a seal that was hungry and decided to tear a swan to pieces in the River Lee, eat it from underneath the river and kill it in agony. And not an isolated incident.
Murphy says the problem of the seal population is not just one for fishermen and that people need to realise that.
You’re starting to run into ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ but the bottom line is that these animals are not pets. They might look like cute and cuddly things but these animals are known to be cannibals and eat their own pups, and that’s been well documented.
But despite feeling that the issue needs to be addressed, Murphy is strongly against any suggestion that fishermen should be shooting seals.
He cites the danger of using rifles on a moving vessel and the problem of dead seals that would be washed up onshore.
In Canada, they have a drug that makes the seals infertile. That is a proper solution. The drug is delivered by a dart and they have a 90-95% success rate. It’s essentially birth control and it lasts about three years.
“We all want to see a solution but nobody wants to see these animals get their heads blown off. Would you like to be walking down a beach someday with your kids and the next thing you see is a dead carcass with its head blown apart? Horrific.”
So whether there is a problem with seals or not, shooting them certainly does not seem like the correct solution.
A fact that politicians from several parties have made clear today.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore told TheJournal.ie that “a more holistic” approach is needed and that fishermen shooting seals would likely be unsafe.
A) I don’t think the solution will solve anything and B) you have to ask is that solution safe? We do have to take those considerations in and I know, the minister said that the National Parks and Wildlife are going to be looking at it. I don’t know if they’re doing a study on the impact of seals on fisheries, but we really need to be taking a more holistic look at how we manage our fisheries, both inshore and offshore.
Green Party councillor for Cobh Alan O’Connor also said that the pilot scheme as discussed would be a step backwards.
“Any such pilot scheme would be a retrograde step in our attitudes toward and treatment of wildlife, and they’re both bad enough already,” he said.
I know licences have been issued in the past for the killing of seals, and this practice, in any form, should be discontinued. There is a biodiversity crisis and it is indeed being manifested in decreasing catches of fish, but seals are not to blame.
Green Party MEP Grace O’Sullivan also made a similar argument:
Our dwindling fish stocks are not happening primarily because of a rise in the already threatened numbers of seals. They are happening because our overall marine abundance has been decimated because of a collapse of the ocean ecosystem due to climate and environmental challenges and previously unchecked over-fishing.
“Fishers and fishing communities need to be supported as we transition into more sustainable ways of making a living from our oceans. Further destruction is not the answer to this problem. Long-term solutions must be put in place,” she added.
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An issue as equally bad as covid if not worse, yet gets a fraction of the headlines. Priorities are just baffling in this country sometimes. I hope anyone suffering gets the help they need. Awareness was just getting good pre-covid but seems to have got lost in the last 12 months.
@Johnny Mads: interesting comment note your account didn’t exist…..
@Jim Buckley Barrett: what you mean..?
@Johnny Mads:
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@Jim Buckley Barrett: Are you referring to my decision to keep my personal identity private? What’s your point?
@Jim Buckley Barrett: that just means his account settings are set to private. His comment isn’t wrong. Even here the attitude among many commenters is that there is no way Covid-19 could possibly have affected mental health. Others have openly ridiculed people for expressing how their health has been affected. One guy continues to post mental health helpline numbers and under his comment he is continuously berated for doing so.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: I very nearly quit my job and had a nervous breakdown due to Covid. Its taken an immense toll on me mentally. But back to the article, mental health is seriously underfunded here and it’s about time we made it an issue the government has to stand up and take notice of. A family member of mine has presented as suicidal at A&E twice Oct/Nov 2020 and was sent home both times. There is no serious immediate help for suicidal people in this country. She wanted to be admitted before she cracked completely and ended her life… But apparently unless you actually try to commit suicide they don’t want to know.
@Seán O’Loughlin: I’m only too aware of how little attention or funding is given to mental health in this country. I’ve been suicidal on a number of occasions during this pandemic. I’ve battled with depression for 20 years and about 18 years ago nearly did go the whole way. Our mental health services and their underfunding and poor awareness are a direct reflection of our society – the majority of people don’t care until it affects them or someone close to them. Some commenters here seem to think that no attention should be paid to mental health at all until this virus is eradicated. Yet, better mental health provisions would – I believe – lead to improvements in adhering to covid advice. I agree with you – it needs a massive overhaul, and not just for the pandemic.
Just as an additional point of note: at this time this article has garnered 12,000 views. An article written later about Wes Hoolahan has over 16,000 views. There’s more interest in a 38-year old footballer than society’s collective mental wellbeing.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: Well done Seán and Brian for speaking so openly and honestly. That can’t be easy and takes bravery.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: Maybe people stressed to the hilt by Covid would rather read anything right now than an article pointing out yet another negative effect of this pandemic, particularly when it relates to mental health. They know how it affects mental health because they are living through it.
@C: I think rather than it taking bravery it’s just really the norm for me, I’ve been through my fair share of mental health problems and don’t believe in not speaking about it. I firmly believe we need to open up more about these things.
@Tommy Roche: maybe you’re talking nonsense. You’re one of the commenters I have seen downplay the seriousness of mental health. As someone who has been seriously impacted by this crisis in terms of my own mental health (and reflected by pretty much every mental health organisation in the country) these articles actually benefit those who are suffering as it shows they are not alone. That feeling of being alone is one factor in poor mental health. Every article that has mental health issues – even prior to Covid – has always had poor reader interaction. Our pathetic mental health services are simply a reflection of the lack of interest from the Irish public. The vast majority of Irish people simply don’t care if someone commits suicide. If they did, they would vote appropriately.
@Johnny Mads: this is going to be the true legacy of this pandemic. Fear and anxiety is easy to engender, but takes years to unwind. The fact that hospitals have been jammers every January/Feb for the last “ever” amount of years, seems to have slipped Paul Reid’s mind. The interaction between people was high in the summer, but cases didn’t rise, yet now they are….. seasonality of respiratory issues is what we are seeing, and possible odd numbers reporting….all reporting is “with” but not “from”. Surely that’s more relevant.
@Tommy Roche: you attacked me directly over my experience with mental health before and went on to put words in my mouth I never uttered. And now here we have you using derogatory language. A differing opinion is fine. Putting people down is a different story altogether and is an area in which you excel.
Its an issue that has been spiraling out of control the last year or more and it almost seems to be ignored. I fully recognize that what is happening with the virus is important and should take priority, however there is other serious health issues going on behind the scenes and going to get worse unless its brought to light.
The absolute horror stories ive heard in recent months of whats happening to not only people in isolated areas, but even behind closed doors in some other places is not a joke. These draconian lockdowns are destroying lives in many ways and make no mistake its going to get worse in the fallout. Its an issue that really needs to be addressed
@mark connolly: Mark, you are correct, it’s not the virus that’s caused this, it’s been a problem for years
What are the HSE doing with the 18 billion per year budget? Seriously for a country our side that budget should go a lot further
@mark connolly: The HSE couldn’t give a toss! A bunch of crooks who only care about themselves. No one can prove that statement wrong.
@mark connolly: I wholeheartedly agree here, we had a baby in September and the whole experience was tainted start to finish with the draconian lockdown measures. I was left to fend for myself and a helpless newborn for 5 days after an emergency c section and in order to get a hug from my husband had to carry a bag if my own urine with me outside to a dirty car park. My mental health has suffered quite a bit and I was told by the mental health team in the maternity hospital either go on meds or get help somewhere else, because they are seeing anyone due to covid. My baby is nearly 4.5 months old and I am due back to work in less than 3 months. Maternity care has been forgot about in the middle of all of this we are so grateful for our son but we will never get this time back again
The sad truth though is that far too many of those in mental crisis are not presenting in ED’s, they are however presenting on the pages of RIP.ie and the numbers are frightening. So many families are suffering trauma in this lockdown with no support , even when it goes horribly wrong, family and community are forbidden to physically be there , virtual hugs when families are unable to stand and solitary figures in church pews and cemeteries. Mental health services were a disaster before the lockdown, now they are in dire straits, so many will not survive this pandemic, the numbers will sit with those who died of covid 19, an uncomfortable reminder of those who were failed.
@Honeybee: 100%correct. Even when someone who is desperately in need of help. Who has a letter from their G.P arrives at Mental Health facility it definitely doesn’t guarantee help. Unfortunately this is another who ended up on R.I.P even though they did everything right. The system failed them in ways that can’t be forgiven.
“Care in the community” has become care in the emergency department, mental health care should not be provided in emergency departments, it reflects the lack of access for patients for proper mental healthcare.
God help anyone having a mental health emergency nowadays. Ambulances waiting EIGHT hours to handover patients in Clonmel today!
Mental health crisis in Ireland is a much bigger issue than covid. Covid is being sorted… Mental health has been ignored and is continued to be ignored.. Only if you have a lot of money can you get proper professional mental help.. Not just trainees that tell you stuff you’ve known yourself for years
This virus is showing us just how sick society really is
@Kathryn O Reilly: You only have to see some of the comments on this thread and the case numbers every night to realise how true this is. Some very sad and argumentative comments.
Where are the staff? Why are there so many empty positions? Hse is such an incredible failure, as are the govs that have failed to govern it for decades. We have doctors in the most senior gov position presiding over health and they have done nothing. They never will. There are too many people in the health service who are institutionalised. There are doctors who lie about clinical evidence and diagnosis about terminal illness because they “don’t like to give a diagnosis they can’t do anything about” (neurological consultant)
There are also many hard working doctors and staff that act with integrity and professionalism that have little to offer and they have to keep quiet about the corrupt and incompetent doctors otherwise they will lose their jobs.
@Tony Ember:
Hse is run like a mafia cult and anybody who speaks up is deliberately mistreated as a firm of punishment. The hse itself is in need of a mental health review. In one case of a patient with a terminal illness who spoke of having multiple suicidal episodes was informed that since he wasn’t suicidal on that day he wouldn’t get any help. He lives despite the torturous abuse he has recieved by some doctors.
Community based so-called mental health services amount to a 10-15 minute appointment with a student or trainee practitioner once every 4-6 weeks.
If you are someone who works, and you can’t make their 10-4pm work schedule, good luck getting help.
However, if you or your family is wealthy, you have lots of options in the private system.
The doctors who would see you in the ER regularly break the Hippocratic oath and turn away people, effectively doing harm.
Let’s just admit the truth, family members barely give an f, let alone the student doctors and doctors leeching money from the hse.
Booom. Out!
@Golden Steph: there are many excellent community mental health care services with fully licensed and accredited professionals. However, government funding into these services has been completely depleted for several years and these services are struggling to stay open too.
@Golden Steph: what an awful and unnecessary comment.
Mental health care in Ireland is atrotcious and we rely on charities to pick up the pieces but it’s becoming obvious that some charities are misspending money. This was made clear with the recent Pieta debacle that arose and has been brewing for a while.
The issue of mental health in Ireland is that it has always been so underfunded and ignored by consecutive governments for decades. If they are short somewhere they always turn to the mental health budget to fill in the gaps and while this solves the immediate issues it adds to the long term issues of the population. Mental health isn’t just the acute generic understanding of someone depressed or suicidal but also the cumulative effect that long term illnesses can have on a person and also the cumulative effect of caring for person who has a long term or chronic illness.
ED staff see the acute symptoms of depression and suicide but don’t have the tools or the time to deal with it. Much of the time they cannot get a psych referral and more often than not the person will be released once they are medically fit with a referral for services sometimes weeks down the line.
One hopes the current pandemic will really wake up the government and successive governments to meaningful improvements in the health service. Much of that will be a severe reduction of middle and top level management and reinvesting those savings into medical and psychological services. We are already seeing an increase need in psychological services as a result of the pandemic and this will grow considerably over the next year as the pandemic winds down into manageable levels.
@Sinead Merrigan: and if the sick person in the meantime kills or injures themselves or others…..oh well…hippocratic oath isn’t worth the paper it’s written on
@Urgencia: It’s awful but the doctors hands are tied at least in the emergency department. The ED is simply triage and not there to treat chronic long term issues. Band aid on the bullet wound and people need to acknowledge that. No doctor wants to release a patient that is at risk but the resources are not there to keep the patient in the emergency department.
@Sinead Merrigan: still a violation of the oath
@Urgencia: how so? They have medically stabilised the person and gave referred to mental health services/psych services
@Sinead Merrigan: wrong, they release psychotic people into the community citing lack of beds on a regular basis. Clearly a violation of their oath and duty.
@Urgencia: Irish doctors and actually most medically school’s / colleges / Hospitals and doctors around the world don’t and have not taken the Hippocratic Oath for many years, these days it’s more of a actors line in a cheesey Hospital drama
This virus is revealing just how ill society really is.
Too many doctors in the family trees of politicians for this situation to change.
The mentally ill don’t represent a big enough voting block to be considered by the blood sucking political class
Sad state of affairs, worsened by Covid.
Members of my family have first-hand experience, trying to access services during Covid. Not even with 3 referrals from GPs, we could get a psychiatrist to assess them.
It was only the 3rd time AnE and with a letter I wrote to the triage nurse detailing what this person was going through that they got admitted.
It was 6 weeks of hell at home. It didn’t need to get that bad. If this person had been seen on time, the first time they presented symptom we would’ve avoided a hospital stay.
I was about to try the private route with them, but the waiting times were going to be similar.
To be honest, private hospitals are not much better.
It’s all well the walk and chat. That’s very simplistic.
Charities shouldn’t be doing the work of hospitals.
I was a witness to this personally as a patient in A&E over the Christmas period. Every single person from patient to doctor are suffering from exhaustion. What is it going to take for a change because all I could do was tell that father that his son would be ok. No one wins if we continue how he are right now.
My 16 year old daughter took an over dose December 1st, we spent 10 hours in A&E then released. Not a work from anyone since, though we were promised we would hear ASAP!!! The mind boggles. She doing ok-ish but no body gives a crap! I get they are under pressure, but c’mon!!
Physic heal thyself
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