Belmullet moves against privitisation of seaweed

Belmullet meeting moves against possible privatisation of seaweed harvesting


Working group set up in Erris

Edwin McGreal

Fears about moves to privatise the harvesting of seaweed along the Irish coast has led to the setting up of an action group in Belmullet.
A well-attended public meeting in the Talbot Hotel in Belmullet on Thursday last heard fears about possible moves by government to sell the license for seaweed harvesting to a Canadian company. Seaweed cultivation is a tradition along coastal areas with many people using the seaweed as fertiliser for their land and others selling seaweed commercially.
Cllr Rose Conway-Walsh, who hosted the meeting together with her Sinn Féin colleague, European candidate Matt Carthy, said the main concern people had was a monopoly coming into place and taking complete control.
“The meeting was very balanced,” she told The Mayo News. “People were not against the harvesting of seaweed by a private company but they want seaweed kept for the community too. The main thing people are afraid of is one company having the monopoly and the license and they can in turn control the price and what’s bought.”
Cllr Conway-Walsh said it was very important that ‘control waits with the local communities’. She added that the meeting was a pre-emptive one as while nothing concrete has been agreed with this Canadian company, her understanding was that the matter ‘is being progressed’. The meeting called for Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to ‘come clean’ on plans for the future of seaweed harvesting.
A number of small companies aiming to work in seaweed harvesting are ‘in the pipeline’ Cllr Conway-Walsh said and they would also come under threat.
European Parliament candidate Matt Carthy from Sinn Féin said moves to privatise the harvesting of seaweed would be a backwards step.
“There is great untapped potential along our coast for greater use of seaweed and for job creation by adding value to the potential harvest there. However, significant concerns have arisen for the future of the industry.
“It appears that a private company from Canada is bidding for the state-owned Arramara Teoranta and I am very concerned that this is another feature of our lives that this government wants to sell off for privatisation.
“The potential of this industry will only benefit our own people if the harvesting and processing is controlled by the communities living there by way of co-operatives or some similar community-based approach.
“I am calling on the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, to come clean on plans for the future of seaweed harvesting on the Western seaboard,” he said.
The working group set up consisted of 17 people from the Erris area. The meeting was also addressed by SeΡn Ó Conghaile, Chairman of the Connemara Seaweed Action Group who outlined what his group have been doing thus far. The Belmullet Seaweed Action Group is due to meet this week to further their work.