Boatmen in Kerry are criticising the OPW for reducing the number of days they can bring tourists to see Skellig Michael.

The say the season has been cut by 74 days in new regulations - which would mean a loss of €2.5m to operators in the region.

The ferrymen also say they have been excluded from the process of creating the new rules.

Joe Roddy is one of those affected: “We have to know the preconditions.

“Each of us learned from boatmen before us, it takes about three years to train a boatman, to be able to land and predict what the weather will be like.

“We are experts at reading the sea conditions, we can land, but the people that are making the rules, they couldn’t land there.”