A fisherman who was prosecuted by an angling club for illegally fishing on a stretch of the Blackwater on which he had leased fishing rights from the Duke of Devonshire, was yesterday urged by a judge to rejoin the club.
Mr Michael O'Shea had the case taken against him for illegal fishing by Cappoquin Salmon and Trout Anglers' Association proven, following a lengthy resumed hearing at Cappoquin District Court yesterday.
However, Judge James McNulty, who heard Mr O'Shea testify that he had previously been a member of the association but felt he had been forced out, adjourned the question of recording a conviction or imposing a penalty on the accused.
"There is no evidence to rebut the facts alleged. The court holds the facts proven, but the court today declines to record a conviction and adjourns the conclusion of the case," said the judge, adjourning the matter to February 11th, 2005.
"During this time Mr O'Shea and his friends and supporters should seriously consider applying for associate membership as a first step towards reintegration. It won't be easy but it seems to be an important first step."
Mr O'Shea, a glass factory employee from Ballycoe, Dungarvan, had been a member of the club until three years ago when it changed its constitution and confined full membership to anglers from Cappoquin.
He said that he had been fishing that particular stretch of the Blackwater and Kilbree West for 25 years; but felt that he and others were being pushed out of the club when it introduced a new constitution, which led to associate members from outside Cappoquin being charged three times the full membership rate.
"I had no knowledge of where my money was going and I was told that, if I didn't like it, I could lump it. I would love to get back into the club, but on a level footing," he said.
Mr O'Shea's claims came after an association water keeper, Mr Gerard Varley, told the court how he and another club member, Mr Christy Kelleher, came upon Mr O'Shea fishing from the south bank of the river at Kilbree West on July 5th, 2003.
Mr Varley said that Mr O'Shea told him that he had the permission of the landowner, but Mr Varley explained that that wasn't sufficient and asked Mr O'Shea if he was a member of the CSTAA or if he had a day permit for visiting anglers.
Mr O'Shea told him he wasn't a club member and didn't have a day permit, and when Mr Varley asked him to buy a permit he refused. He then requested Mr O'Shea to stop fishing but he refused and continued angling, said Mr Varley.
The association's secretary, Mr Jeremy Nicholson, said full membership of the club was confined to people from Cappoquin, and associate membership was available to people from outside. The club had 17-20 full members and 39 or 40 associate members.
The club also offered 10-day permits to visiting anglers, and 75 per cent of the proceeds from the sale of these was used to the maintenance of the fishery including trimming banks and erecting stiles. The remaining 25 per cent was paid to the owner of the fishery, Lismore Estates.
Mr Nicholson strongly rejected a suggestion by Mr O'Shea's solicitor, Mr Patrick Gordon, that when the club received €130,000 in funding to develop tourism angling, members had "battened down the hatches and privatised the club".
Judge McNulty had earlier heard lengthy submissions from Mr Gordon and a barrister, Mr Michael Delaney, for CSTAA about the Duke of Devonshire's title to the fishery and CSTAA's subsequent right to bring the private prosecution as owner and manager of the fishery under the Fisheries Consolidation Act, 1959.