Displaying items by tag: Piotr Flaga

31st December 2011

Man Escapes Jail for Illegal Fishing, Obstructing Officer

#ANGLING - A man narrowly escaped prison for obstructing a fisheries officer in a case taken by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) at Carrickmacross District Court earlier this month.

Piotr Flaga - of Bog Road in Drogheda - was fined €450 by Judge Sean McBride after he was found to have set lines at a lake in Carrickmacross on 18 and 19 August last with the intention of taking coarse fish illegally.

The court heard that when apprehended by Assistant Inspector Ronan O’Brien, Flaga refused to co-operate and would not give his name and address. He then obstructed Asst Insp O’Brien by moving his vehicle towards him in a bid to escape when questioned.

Gardai were called to the scene and subsequently Flaga was issued with two summons.

Flaga entered a guilty plea and was convicted under Sections 301 and 308 of the 1959 Fisheries Act. He was further charged for breach of byelaw 595 of 1977 in relation to fishing in fresh water for coarse fish by means other than rod and line.

The defendant was fined a total of €450 with five months to pay with 14 days imprisonment in default. Some €500 in costs were also awarded to Inland Fisheries Ireland.

Judge MacBride acknowledged Flaga's public apology to Asst Insp O'Brien, but emphasised that any person who came before him in future for a similar offence would face imprisonment.

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour