evidence: The idea that Ireland regards as part of its territory the tiny clump of rocks known as Rockall, 420km northwest of Co Donegal, is a popular misconception – flag-planting on the rock by brave, patriotic souls notwithstanding. [...] Irish lawyers and diplomats have maintained that nothing as insubstantial or uninhabitable as Rockall can be said to constitute a national territory in any meaningful sense. And particularly in the sense of such a status bestowing economic rights. Irish diplomats successfully fought hard to establish the principle (see clause above) in international law at interminable UN meetings on the drafting of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. [...] The Scottish move also has implications for Brussels. The Common Fisheries Policy extends access rights for all EU fishing boats to all EU waters that are not covered by the 12-mile territorial exemption. If Rockall, as the Irish contend, does not have its own territorial waters, then the area is simply part of the common fishing zone and Scottish attempts to exclude any boats are a breach of the Common Fisheries Policy.