Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has welcomed the successful conviction of Uisce Éireann following a harmful discharge that caused at least 5,000 fish mortalities in Cork.
At Mallow District Court on Monday (December 16), Judge Colm Roberts imposed a fine of €3,500 for a breach of Section 171(1) of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959, and payment of €3,267 in costs.
The case was brought by IFI following a discharge into the River Allow from the Freemount water treatment plant on June 9, 2024.
Commenting after the verdict, director of IFI’s south-western region Sean Long said: “This was an entirely avoidable ecological disaster for a sensitive river habitat.
“In this catastrophic incident, an 8km stretch of river was effectively sterilised, and may take years to recover.”
Species of fish discovered dead include juvenile Atlantic salmon, brown trout, lamprey, eel, stone loach, roach, and dace.
The pollution event occurred on a tributary of the Munster Blackwater catchment at Freemount, north Co. Cork.
It occurred in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), and the location is a noted spawning habitat for fish.
IFI – the state agency responsible for the protection and conservation of freshwater fish and habitats – continues to urge the public to report instances of fish kills, water pollution, habitat destruction, or illegal fishing to its confidential 24/7 number, 0818 34 74 24.
IFI conviction against landowner
Just last month, IFI secured a conviction against a landowner for dredging salmon and trout spawning beds in Co. Kerry.
Michael O’Shea of Bunaderreen north, Mastergeehy, Killarney, Co. Kerry was found to have removed spawning gravels over a 270m stretch of Kealadwneen stream – a tributary of the River Inny – and lowered the channel bed by up to 0.5m.
He also removed trees and vegetation along the stream bank, which IFI said compounded the harm done to the sensitive habitat.
The incident took place at Bunaderreen and Kealafreaghane West, Mastergeehy, Co. Kerry.