The Russian Ambassador, Yury Filatov, to Ireland is set to meet with fishermen today to discuss the planned military exercises off the Irish Coast.
Fishermen at the South & West Fish Producers Organisation in Cork said they are planning to take their boats out to where the military exercises are to take place in early February in a “peaceful protest” to try and disrupt the exercises.
Patrick Murphy, CEO of the organisation, said the group is concerned the exercises will disrupt the migratory path and breeding season of fish and the “untold damage” to marine wildlife.
Mr Murphy said fishermen are discussing a plan to fish in an area near the proposed area of the military exercises while they are taking place.
The exercises will take place in international waters but will still remain within Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone, 240 kilometres off the Irish coast.
Speaking to Patricia Messinger on C103′s Cork Today Show, Mr Murphy said by taking the boats to a fishing area close to the exercises, the Russian military will be forced to move further away, providing a solution to the problem.
He said: “We do not want to add tensions or be part of anything that might be a knee-jerk reaction by this nation, so we’re hoping the dialogue that we have with the ambassador, and it’s been positive to date, will rectify our concerns.”
Mr Murphy added: “We are not going to be sending our boats into danger, but we’re letting everybody know these boats were going there before the Russians.
“We are not doing this to antagonise the Russian people. This, I believe, can be solved if these boats move into deeper water and move away from these sensitive areas.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has spoken of his surprise that the Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, met the Russian Ambassador to Ireland, Yury Filatov, last Friday.
Mr Coveney said he felt the meeting was ill-judged given the crisis in Ukraine.
The Lieutenant General has said the meeting was part of a series of meetings he was holding with ambassadors as he had just taken on the new role of Chief of Staff.
