130 BRITISH FISHERIES 



reduction of the population ; and, finally, the 

 apathy of the administration. 



This apathy came to an end, and an infinitely 

 more hopeful regime was initiated, when the Irish 

 Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruc- 

 tion l was created. This was the main expression 

 of the new spirit in which Sir Horace Plunket, 

 and those who were associated with him, began, 

 some ten or twelve years ago, the cure of the 

 economic disease which has afflicted Ireland for 

 centuries, and who, by " helping the people to 

 help themselves," are playing a more worthy and 

 useful part than those who place their reliance on 

 political shibboleths. A Fisheries Branch forms 

 an important section of the Department. 10,000 

 is provided annually in the estimates for the 

 expenses of the administration of the branch. 

 Two inspectors and a scientific adviser, with 

 several naturalists, form the staff. The Depart- 

 ment administers loan funds (which one wishes 

 were more ample) for enabling fishermen to 

 purchase boats and gear. It endeavours to direct 

 the industry, in the way of providing better trans- 

 port and markets for the products of the fisheries, 

 and every attempt is made to develop the latter 

 by all possible means, such as by extending the 

 fish-curing industry and developing the unique 



1 By the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act of 1899. 

 See Ireland in the New Century, by Sir Horace Plunket, London, 1 904, 

 p. 282, for a short account of the functions of the fisheries authority. 



