§ MR. O'MALLEY (Galway, Connemara)To ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland, whether he is aware that some six years ago the fishermen of Lee-nane, Glannagoolagh, and Bundorougha, in Connemara, county Galway, had a lawsuit with the Fishery Conservators to define the nearest limit up to which they could haul salmon from the mouth of the Erriff River, with the result that a Court of inquiry decided that salmon could be hauled at any point one statute mile from the river's mouth; and whether, in view of the fact that since that time the Conservators have never shown or defined a definite boundary, with the consequence that the fishermen are prevented by the owners of the Erriff fishery from hauling from one and a half to two miles from the river's mouth, thus depriving them of a portion of the best hauling portion of the bay, he will take steps to protect the interests of the fishermen from such action on the part of the owners of the fishery.
(Answered by Mr. Atkinson.) Netting for salmon by the public is prohibited by statute within half a mile of the defined mouth of a river. The mouth of the Erriff River has been thus defined; but it would appear that an exclusive right of fishing is claimed by a proprietor in an area which extends further to seaward than the statutory limit; and that this exclusive right of fishing as against the public formed the subject of litigation some years ago and was upheld.