Sean O’Donoghue, the long-standing chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO), is to retire at the end of this year.
KFO chairman Ciarán Doherty said that O’Donoghue had “left a remarkable legacy and navigated a series of challenges and hurdles that few could have anticipated when he took over in 2000”.
“Seán has spent a total of 43 years working in fisheries, and there are few, if any, who have the level of knowledge, experience and competency around an industry which plays such a key role in our economy and, indeed, for those of us in coastal communities, our daily lives,” he said.
O’Donoghue, a civil engineering graduate, worked in the Department of the Marine and Bord Iascaigh Mhara before being appointed to the KFO post to succeed the late Joey Murrin.
“We are fortunate to have had him steer the KFO through countless and often-tense negotiations and, of course, the defining moment of a generation, Brexit and the ramifications it has had for Irish fisheries,” Doherty said.
O’Donoghue said he had been “privileged to work with many excellent people who have been fiercely committed to the betterment of Irish fisheries”.
“ That involves leaving the industry in a better place than where we found it, and I believe that through our work on more sustainable fisheries, reducing our carbon footprint while simultaneously fighting the corner of our phenomenal fishermen, we’ve achieved that,” he said.
“I think there’s an appreciation of the changing dynamic of fisheries,” O’Donoghue said.
“ We have had to adapt, pivot and modernise, and we are currently on that journey with typical zeal and determination. Brexit caused untold angst and strife, but if there’s one thing about all those associated with Irish fisheries, there’s a pride and resilience which always shines through,” he said.
O’Donoghue will leave his position on December 31st, and the KFO says his successor will be announced next month.
