When Ivan Went Full Rock Lobster

Here she bows…

s the 10-meter long catamaran Golden Venture pulled into the new Greystones marina, a cheer went up from those gathered on the pier.

Skippering the boat was Ivan Toole, a local fisherman who, like pretty much everyone present, wanted the new harbour powers that be to know that he was fed up.

Fed up, primarily, of waiting for the promised facilities for fishermen like himself to land their catch in Greystones harbour. As they had done for generations.

Now working out of Dun Laoghaire, the new harbour had been open for two years, and still no permanent facilities had been offered to those local fishermen who had been using the old harbour.

Organised by Toole and local campaign group Give Us Back Our Harbour, on this sunny August 2014 day, about 50 people witnessed the landing of 10 trays of locally-caught lobster, said to be worth approximately €2,500 gross.

Standing alongside Ivan – who, through his Kinsella connection, is part of five generations of Greystones fishermen – was Tim Storey, who, he told those present, had had his fishing vessel impounded by the harbour authorities.

Speaking on behalf of Sisk, the harbour development company, employee Gordon Hunter said that fisherman had been informed in July that they would be able to use the north quay to land their catch, and that a gate would be installed in the fence surrounding the harbour for land access.

Also being protested today were draft bye-laws which proposes to ban lobster pots and related equipment from the area, as well as the cleaning of fish within the precincts of the harbour, the storing of any fishing equipment, and the sale of fish to the public. The fishermen were also informed, stated GUBOH spokesman Basil Miller, that they had to keep their vessels free of “rotten seaweed, fish, bait and the like, so as not to create offensive odours“.

“Effectively, they want to have the harbour as a boat park and not a working harbour, which is what it always was,” finished Miller.

Catch up with Ivan’s 2019 protest at Greystones harbour here, and see the full range of John McGowan pics from the original here.