Hunting Licences A person who hunts a protected wild animal which is not exempted other than under a licence or permission granted is guilty of an offence. A person who hunts an exempted wild animal other than in accordance with the permission or license applicable is guilty of an offence. A person who injures a protected wild animal otherwise than while hunting it is guilty […]
Marking It is an offence other than in pursuance of a licence to mark by cutting branding, tattooing or attach any band microchip tag or other marking device to any wild animal or wild bird or to trap a bird for the purpose of so doing. These provisions do not to the the close ringing of artificially reared wild birds, captive bred birds prescribed in […]
Felling Licence Application Where a person wishes to cut or fell a tree other than exempted trees, he must apply to the Minister for a licence. The procedure for the application for the licence is set out. Conditions may be applied, including in particular replanting conditions. Certain categories of trees are exempted from the requirement for a felling licence. The Minister may make an order […]
Updated 2014 Legislation The Forestry Act 2014 updates the legislation in relation to forestry. It repeals the Forestry Act 1946 and previous legislation. The Act provides for the functions of the Minister and gives powers to protect forests from a range of risks and threats, including fire, disease and vermin. Enforcement measures by way of penalties and prosecutions are provided for. The legislation updates the […]
Older Felling Requirements There are significant restrictions on cutting down trees. In this context, cutting down means coming through the trunk at a height of less than six feet to the extent that the tree falls or is rendered liable to fall under the influence of a natural entity. The Forestry Act of 1946 created restrictions on the felling of trees. This was replaced by […]
Article 10 Article 10 of the Constitution declares that all natural resources and forms of potential energy belong to the State, subject to all estates and rights and interests therein lawfully vested in other persons. The same also applies to royalties and franchises within the jurisdiction. The Article declares that provision may be made for the management of the property which belongs to the State […]
Lease or Licence It is necessary to obtain a lease or licence from the Minister to work minerals. The exclusive right to work minerals vests in the Minister (under the 1979 Act). The Minister may grant a lease or license to a mining company to operate minerals. Leases may be limited to the land or part of the land comprising the minerals. The legislation provides […]
Prospecting Licence The owner of land may prospect for minerals under his own land subject to compliance with planning and environmental legislation, provided the mines and minerals have not been excepted. Under the Minerals Development Act, an application may be made for a prospecting licence to the Ministers. Where the Minister is satisfied that there are minerals under any land and that such minerals are […]
1940s The Minerals Developments Act was passed at the beginning of the Second World War. There was a concern about the availability of resources. This is reflected in the principle of compulsory acquisition of unworked mines and minerals. The Slievardagh Coal Development Act 1941 and the Minerals Exploration and Development Act provided for the setting up of a State mining company to prospect for mines […]
The Minerals Act 1960 relates to petroleum. It deals with granting of exploration licences petroleum prospecting licences petroleum leases reserved area licences and other matters. Petroleum includes any mineral oil e hydrocarbon or natural gas, liquid, gaseous hydrocarbon or its constituent elements existing in strata and includes s any mineral substance contained in it brought to the surface in the normal process of extraction. It […]
Fishing Resources A basic principle is that the coastal state has jurisdiction over its territorial seas. It has a right to explore, exploit, conserve and manage fishing in any EEZ and EFZ it may claim. Beyond this and in the high seas, fishing is open to all, subject to the jurisdiction of the flag state. Overfishing has been a major problem in recent decades. Many […]
Continental Shelf Originally, resources of the sea were conceived of in terms of fishing and aquaculture. In the last 100 years, exploration of the seabed and its resources has become possible and economically feasible. Correspondingly, international law and conventions have evolved, largely giving enhanced rights and powers to the coastal state. The 1958 CSC provides that the coastal state exercises over the continental shelf, sovereign […]
UNCLOS Historically there were high seas and territorial seas. States enjoyed certain rights in their territorial seas.0 The high seas were open to all. The Law of the Sea has developed considerably over the last 50 years. New areas and zones are recognised with reference to resources. The International Law Commission drafted the first Draft Articles on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I) in […]
Continental Shelf Convention The Continental Shelf Ireland signed but has not ratified the Convention on the Continental Shelf 1958. Ireland ratified the Law of the Sea Convention in 1996. However, Ireland has thereby effectively adopted the convention. Under the CSC, the Continental Shelf extends to the seabed and subsoil of submarine areas adjacent to the coast outside the limit of the territorial sea to a […]
Terrotorial Sea Limits Initially, Irish fishing limits extended to the old Irish territorial sea limit, i.e. three nautical miles from the baselines. The Maritime Jurisdiction Act declares that the exclusive fishery limit of the State comprises all sea areas lying within the outer limit of the territorial seas. Legislation allowed the government by statutory instrument to extend the exclusive fisheries limit. The State is authorised […]
IFI Makes Rate Inland Fisheries Ireland shall, as regards every fishery year and within the period beginning on the 1st day of December preceding the commencement of that fishery year and ending on the 31st day of January next following a strike on all fisheries within a fishery district, a rate of such amount per cent of their valuations as will, with the estimated amount […]
Establishment The Fisheries Harbour Centres Act 1968 provided further for the establishment and operation of certain harbours and centres in which to promote, develop and carry on sea fishing, processing, packing and selling of fish, manufacture of fish products and provide for related matters. The Minister may, in relation to any scheduled harbour, declare such area of the harbour or the land adjoining about to […]
Bord Iascaigh Mhara The Sea Fisheries Act 1952 established Bord Iascaigh Mhara. The Act grants powers to the Minister to make regulations for the landing sale, storage, handling and transport of sea fish. Contravention of the 1952 Act or any regulations under it is an offence which may be prosecuted summarily in the District Court. Powers Bord Iascaigh Mhara has wide powers in the context […]
Licence Required A sea fishing boat to which legislation applies shall not be used for sea fishing, whether within the exclusive fishery limits of the State or otherwise, nor shall a person on board such a boat fish for sea fish or attempt to do so other than in accordance with the licence granted by the Minister. The legislation applies to sea fishing boats which […]
Nature of Fishery Fisheries are profits of the soil over which water flows. The title to the fishery derives from the right to the soil. The fishery may be held separately, in which event it becomes a profit a prendre. A public fishery is one that is vested in the public generally. A private fishery is vested in a limited number of individuals or an […]
Sale of Certain Fish The sale of salmon, trout, eels and molluscan fish is regulated and subject to licensing. It is an offence to purchase, sell or export for sale or keep for sale or have in possession any unseasonable salmon or trout or to purchase, sell, keep, or have in possession any salmon, trout, eel or molluscan shell which has been unlawfully captured. The […]
Salmon Salmon fisheries are the most important inland fish in Ireland from a recreational and commercial perspective. Salmon includes fish of the salmon species, sea trout and spawn or fry thereof. A salmon river is one frequented by salmon. Salmon fishing opens on January 1 on a handful of rivers, and after that, the remainder of rivers open on various dates in February, March, April […]
Enter & Search Waterkeepers and authorised officers have powers to search, enter land, inspect, seize, take samples. They may obtain search warrants where required for more extensive searches. Members of Garda Siochana or authorised persons may enter along banks and borders of any lakes with boats or enter such water and lakes, enter on weirs, sluices, mills, enter boats engaged in fishing, seize any unlawful […]
Ministerial Powers The Minister has powers to make byelaws for the management, protection and improvement of fisheries in the State. Regulations may be made in relation to fishing licences, times and seasons for taking and fishing for specified classes of fish, regulation of fish engines, nets and other matters for the protection of the fishery. The Minister may issue permits for catching fish for certain […]
Nets Nets are included in a number of definitions under the Fisheries Acts, including fixed engines, fishing engines and scheduled engines. Nets are more a feature of sea fisheries, which is the subject of a separate article. Bye laws on salmon and trout conservation define drift nets, raft nets and snap nets, as well as other nets. The salmon and trout conservation byelaws are made […]
Oyster Beds Oyster beds in Ireland received statutory recognition and protection in the Fisheries (Ireland) Act 1842. Many have been held under charter by individuals or by prescription since the 18th century. The Fisheries Amendment Act 1980 provided for licences and made provision in relation to oyster farming. There are oyster bed licences, oyster fishery orders and fish culture licences. Oyster beds have been held […]
Background The Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 2010, deal principally with inland fisheries. Fish are widely defined to include marine invertebrate crustaceans and molluscs together with their brood and spawn. The Fisheries Act of 1959 originally created fisheries districts. In 1980 provision was made for a central fisheries board and a number of regional fisheries boards. In 2010 all the various functions were transferred to Inland […]
Right to Open Mine Planning permission is required for the development of land. The opening of a mine will require planning permission. Questions arise in many cases as to whether mines have been continuously in use prior to the commencement of planning legislation, such as to be exempt from planning permission. Special provisions in the 2010 Act deal with issues concerning quarries. Apart from planning […]
Mines The original and primary meaning of a mine was an underground excavation made for the purpose of extracting or obtaining minerals. The word has been given other meanings in different contexts. It may denote a place where minerals are worked underground or are being processed on the surface. It may mean a stratum, vein or seam of mineral. A quarry implies surface working with […]
Rights of Support The general rights of law applicable to adjoining properties apply in respect of support from adjacent land and mines. The right of support is the right to have the surface maintained at its historical and natural level. It is not an easement but a natural right incident to ownership of the soil. The right of support remains on the severance of the […]
Implied Rights In the absence of an indication to the contrary, there is an incident to the ownership of a mine, a right to take and carry away the minerals where it is granted. The grant will be interpreted to give effect to the same where possible. A right of way may be granted appurtenant to a mine. It is subject to the general principles […]
Trout & Salmon The following does not apply to the use in any special tidal waters of a fishing engine for the taking of salmon or trout. If any person uses or erects in any fishery district any scheduled engine, for the taking of salmon, trout, coarse fish or eels in respect of which there is not for the time being in force an ordinary […]
Adjoining Rivers It is presumed, in the absence of an indication to the contrary, that the bed of non-tidal river vests equally in the owners of the adjoining riparian lands. This is equivalent to a presumption of ownership of the subsoil of the highway street or road on the part of adjoining property owners. The presumption of ownership may be rebutted by evidence of a […]
Property in Water Water which is appropriated or taken in to possession from a known channel, is capable of being owned. The property right exists only during possession. Blocked water within a receptacle is the property of the person who possesses it for as long as he continues in possession. Where water flows through his land and not beyond it, the landowner may generally use […]
Fisheries and the Foyle There had been extensive controls on inland fisheries since the middle of the 19th century. The legislation is designed to protect fish stocks in the broadest sense and includes protections on fish habitats. The salmon fisheries of the River Foyle—an extremely valuable asset— which were declared forfeit to the British Crown following the Flight of the Earls were, along with certain […]