Fishermen win Supreme Court appeal over mussel fishing access

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Paul Barlow, Michael Crowley, Gerard Kelly and Alex McCarthy won a Supreme Court appeal over negligence claims concerning access to mussel-fishing waters on 11 April 2025. The Supreme Court sent their case back to the High Court to decide whether the State acted irrationally or negligently in allocating access and whether the fishermen incurred losses.

The appeal concerned claims that the State owed commercial fishermen a duty of care when exercising its powers over fishing access. The Supreme Court directed the High Court to consider whether the defendants had effectively disclaimed liability and whether the fishermen knew, before investing, that access had been granted to Northern Ireland vessels.