Over 500 boats on river when Michael started

Drogheda Independent - March 21st 2003

WHEN I started fishing as a child, there were over 500 boats fishing on the river, at the present time there are only 50. I remember there were four seasons of fishing in six months.

There was spring salmon, the barren trout, which was five to ten pound weight, then there was a small run of trout in June, then there was the grille from June to July and now you have the grille and the odd trout.

They came along and cut us down from six months to three months at four days a week which means the fishing season now begins on May 15 and finishes on August 12 as opposed to February 12 to August 12. The reason given is that the river is over-fished instead of saying that it is overpolluted.

Here is a list of the fish that were in the river at one time and it should be noted that these were never fished: the flounder, the flat fish, sole, black sole, cobber, conger eel, bass, whistling eel, ordinary black eel, plaice, perrywinlde, cockle and clam.

Yet these fish are no longer found in the River Boyne, they are extinct in the Boyne. Mussels were fished in the Boyne at one time but these too have been polluted.

The best thing that has happened in this town is the treatment plant and with the water now slowly clearing, the marine life will come back with the exception of the salmon whose spawning grounds have been polluted.

I remember at eleven and a half years of age, I helped to recover a person from the River Boyne which was my first time.

I didn't feel right for a good while afterwards and this edged me on to want to help families find their lost loved ones. In those days there was no one else but the fishermen on the River Boyne and their fishing boats, as was thesame in the rest of the country.

If there was a person recovered on the north side of the river they had to be brought to the Lourdes Hcspital and if a person was recovered on the south side they had to be brought to St Mary's on the Dublin Road.

The most terrible thing in those days was that they were not allowed into the churches until recent times.

There used to be a morgue at the South Quay at the old bus station and the O'Hagan fishing sheds were used as a morgue as well.

During those days we knew no better about outboard motors and engines, there were only a few cars around the town in those days too. We used to use a clinker fishing boat and row for hours using the draglines.

I have been fishing the Boyne for 44 years now. I remember one time at Kieran's Corner around 2am, a guard on foot patrol stopped about 16 of us boys going fishing. We all had our bikes and none of us had lights. He took out his notebook and asked the first

lad his name. He then said to him, 'you have no lights', and the lad replied 'no guard'. The guard then said 'you have no rear light'. The lad said 'no guard'. The guard then said you have no front or back brakes, nor have you a front or back mudguard. The lad replied 'well sir, case dismissed, I've no bike'. The guard just laughed.

Around 30 years ago we bought our first inflatable boat and engine. As the years have gone by we have got stronger and stronger. We am now a team of 42 members made up of fishermen and men and women of various occupations.

We the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service have searched throughout Ireland for people who have gone missing on waterways. The reason the BFRR have searched throughout Ireland is because I saw a father pleading on television for help to find his son who was missing in a lake.

60% of towns and villages in this country where rivers run through and lakes on the outskirts have no rescue service. I've only met one other recovery service apart from ourselves who travel the country - the Garda Underwater Unit.

The BFRR have been approached by families and Gardai throughout the country to assist in searches which we have done to the best of our ability.

We now have our own pagingsystem which was paid for by the people of Drogheda and surrounding areas. The boats we have belong to the people of Ireland.

The people of Enniskinnen and Mayo bought our rescue service a boat (rib) which they called Lough Conn. She was blessed in Knockmore, County Mayo. Also the people of Ardee bought us the Ferdia and she was blessed at the chapel in Ardee.

Over the past few years I am very proud to have received awards on behalf of the BFRR. The
people of the year award 2000 was accepted by Mr Peter Govern who over many of the years was our Chairman. He gave freely of his time and energies and without such people we would not be what we are today.

The People of the Year Award 2000 and the County Louth People of the Year Awards 2001 to name but a few.

For the past six years I have taken part in the Celtic Rowing Challenge along with other members of the rescue providing safety cover for rowing crews from Arklow to Aberystwyth in Wales.

In May 2002 we entered the Celtic rowing challenge ourselves as veterans and we broke all records by one hour while our youngest members provided safety boats for all taking part.

The Celtic challenge is 96 miles across the Irish Sea and at times that is against strong winds and high seas.

From the age of eleven and a half and taken out of school to work for my family as a fisherman on the Boyne I am proud to be a fisherman and proud to be part of the Boyne Fisherman's Rescue and Recovery Garda Coastwatch Service.

© Drogheda Independent