Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My colleagues and I met with the society earlier this week and it is very clear that it has genuine concerns about the situation. The River Barrow is a major river in the south east and the second longest in Ireland. It is an excellent salmon river but the society is very concerned that its stocks are being depleted. The construction debris dumped in the river and other pollution issues are not being adequately dealt with by Inland Fisheries Ireland or the environmental section of Carlow County Council, with which the society also engaged but which did not give it the kind of hearing it hoped for. The parties involved should come together to agree on a common sense solution. It is not beyond our reach to organise that and I hope the raising of this matter in the House will be the catalyst to make that happen such that a solution can be agreed upon. This is about the adequate management of our inland waterways. Inland Fisheries Ireland is responsible for that and must be brought to the table to work out a solution to this issue.

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