PRESS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
19 MAY 2013

Call on IFA to protect water supplies from cryptosporidium

Only 7% of farmers willing to accept recommended protection

As further boil water notices are issued in Roscommon because of another outbreak of cryptosporidium, an environmental group has written to IFA President John Bryan asking him to address the issue of set backs or buffer zones for farm animals grazing near water courses.

Cryptosporidium is transmitted in the faeces of humans and animals. While the spreading of the waste is controlled, the grazing by animals is subject only to a set back or buffer zone of 1.5 metres. This was reduced from 3 metres to 1.5 metres in 2004 as part of an agreement between the IFA and the DoAFF. The recommended minimum set back is 10 metres.

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PRESS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
13 MAY 2013

WORLD EXPERT WARNS MINISTER ON SEA LICE

CITES ‘RECENT INCORRECT INFORMATION IN THE MEDIA’

The Chair of the World Register of Marine Species, President of the International Association of Biological Oceanography, and Marine and Freshwater Editor of the journal Biological Conservation has written to Minister Simon Coveney warning him of recent incorrect information in the media about whether sea lice from salmon farms can cause problems on wild fish.

In his letter, he explained that while he does ‘not normally get involved in such debates’ he ‘was surprised at some of the recent incorrect information in the media about whether sea lice from salmon farms can cause problems on wild fish’ and felt it important ‘that I provide you with best scientific information’.

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 The launch at Dublin Castle to mark three important EU milestones for Ireland was rearranged at the last moment when an environmental group objected to the release of helium–filled balloons into the environment.

Friends of the Irish Environment had contacted both the Taoiseach’s office and the EU education programme Blue Star the day before the ceremony was due to take place after one of their members noticed an announcement of the balloon release.

At a December 31 flag–raising ceremony to be attended by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Government ministers, members of the diplomatic corps and other guests, 40 balloons were due to be released by schoolchildren engaged in the EU–focused Blue Star programme for primary schools.

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FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT

PRESS RELEASE

30 APRIL 2013

Ireland ‘asleep at the wheel’ as ash dieback disease hit

Plant health controls sacrificed in the interest of free trade

Ireland was ‘asleep at the wheel’ as ash dieback disease swept through Europe and must now redouble its effort to prevent the disease from disseminating Ireland’s native trees.

The claim comes from Friends of the Irish Environment who have made a submission to the Government’s Draft All Ireland Control Strategy for Ash Dieback.

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PRESS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
2 MAY 2013

Industrial peat extraction no longer exempt from planning

Four years after first asking An Bord Pleanala to determine if the vast industrial extraction of turf from the Irish midlands did or did not constitute ‘development’ or ‘exempted development’ a swingeing judgment has been handed down in FIE’s favour.

ALL industrial scale extraction – many of the sites are over 100 hectares – which previously was exempted development has since 20 September 2012 (the day the 2011 Habitats Regulations were signed into law) required development consent.

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FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT

PRESS RELEASE

28 MARCH 2013

IRISH CHALLENGE TO NEW UK NUCLEAR PLANT

An Irish NGO has launched a legal challenge seeking the suspension of the development of the proposed UK nuclear plant in Somerset, England until consultations with the Irish public are completed

The challenge has been made by the environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe for the failure of the United Kingdom in compliance with its obligations under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.

It follows on the group’s unsuccessful requests to the Irish authorities to ensure Ireland was consulted as part of the UK public consultation.

The Convention requires that the opportunity provided to the public of potentially affected Parties is ‘equivalent to that provided to the public of the Party of origin’.

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FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT

PRESS RELEASE

24 APRIL 2013

Welcome for all Ireland study on smoky coal

Environmentalists have welcomed the announcement that Northern Ireland the Republic are commissioning a joint North–South study on all–island air quality. In particular, the study will examine the issue of residential burning of smoky coal.

The failure to develop an all Ireland smoky coal ban has significantly hindered public policy, according to Friends of the Irish Environment.

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PRESS RELEASE

FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT

11 APRIL 2013

WELCOME FOR EU COURT RULING ON GALWAY BY–PASS

The environmental group Friends of the Irish Environment have welcomed the Judgment from the EU Court of Justice on the Galway By Pass.

The Court has ruled that permission may not be given for developments on priority conservation sites where there is a risk that it will bring about ‘the disappearance or the partial and irreparable destruction of the protected site’. 

This ensures that problems we have had with cases like raised bogs – the ‘death by a thousand cuts’ – must no longer be permitted. Even the partial destruction of protected areas may not be permitted.

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The Environmental Impact Assessment for the new UK nuclear plant Hinkley Point C in Somerset did not analysis the worst case scenarios that could affect neighboring countries, including Ireland.

Friends of the Irish Environment are citing a report from the Austrian Federal Environmental Agency “Umweltbundesamt”, who are seeking to have trans boundary impacts analyzed before permission is given, currently scheduled for 19 March.

The Austrian Agency’s Technical Report says that severe accidents with high releases cannot be excluded. ‘A conservative worst case release scenario should have been included in the EIA. A source term, for example for an early containment failure or containment bypass scenario, should have been analysed as part of the EIA – in particular because of its relevance for impacts at greater distances.’

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FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
PRESS RELEASE

FOR SATURDAY 2 MARCH 2013

OMBUDSMAN ASKED TO INTERVENE ON GALWAY BAY FISH FARM

As protestors gather in Galway to protest against the Irish Government’s plans for a 15,000 tonne salmon farm in Galway Bay, Friends of the Irish Environment have lodged a formal complaint with the Ombudsman for Local Government.

The complaint claims that the proposal undermines the National Development Plan 2007 – 2013, which placed a moratorium on the expansion of salmon farming until the sea lice issue has been addressed.

The moratorium was announced in July 2010 after a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Irish Seafood National Program 2007 – 2013, and was published as part of the National Development Plan 2007 –2013.

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1 February, 2013

 A new Report from the EU due to be made public in the coming days will make stringent criticisms of Ireland’s complaint–handling mechanisms relating to EU environmental law.

According to the ‘Study on environmental complaint–handling and mediation mechanisms at national level’, environmental complaint procedures in Ireland are ‘not established by law, nor are they directly regulated by any legal provision establishing rights and obligations.’ The high number of regulatory agencies in Ireland and their overlapping responsibilities ‘adds some complexity to the picture’.Ireland is censured for having

• No structured complaints procedure for complaints about nature protection and conservation

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PRESS RELEASE

30 DECEMBER 2012

FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT

The environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment are calling on the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to cancel the proposed launch of 40 balloons at tomorrows EU ceremony at Dublin Castle.

At a flag–raising ceremony to be attended by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Government ministers, members of the diplomatic corps and other guests, 40 balloons are to be released by schoolchildren engaged in the EU–focused Blue Star programme for primary schools.

But Friends of the Irish Environment said the practice of releasing balloons was hazardous to the environment because the balloon fragments littered the land and sea and were harmful to marine life.

According to the organisation’s director Tony Lowes, It has been well established since a Canadian marine conference in 1989 that the release of gas filled balloons is an environmental hazard. ‘The fragments can become lethal ‘marine debris’, a hazard for sea turtles, dolphins, whales, fish, and seabirds who mistake them for jellyfish or other natural prey. 

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 PRESS RELEASE

19 DECEMBER 2012

EU FINES ‘WAKE UP CALL’

The EU fines imposed today are a ‘wake up call’ for Ireland, according to the environmental group Friends of the Irish Environment, who work closely with the Commission on a wide range of legal environmental issues.

According to FIE Director Tony Lowes, ‘Ireland’s inertia in relation to EU environmental law has led to the country gaining a reputation as the ‘reluctant jurisdiction.’

‘Although the Commission raised the septic rank issue more than five years ago we are still awaiting any information about the inspection regime to bring an end to the ongoing pollution that is taking place across the country.’

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PRESS RELEASE WEDNESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2012

SMOKED FARM SALMON BOYCOTT LAUNCHED 

A national boycott of farmed smoked salmon for Christmas has been launched as part of the protest against the expansion of salmon farming along the Irish coast.

The Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has funded BIM to apply for a licence to double Ireland’s farmed salmon output in one super farm in Galway Bay. Further expansion is also planned by Marine Harvest, the Norwegian owned leading Irish farmed salmon producer in Bantry Bay. 

The initiative contradicts the moratorium on fish farms agreed under the National Development Plan’s Irish Seafood National Program 2007 – 2013 published in July 2010. This ruled that no increase in production would take place until the sea lice issue had been addressed. A recent report from Inland Fisheries Ireland showed that in fact mortalities from wild salmon from farmed salmon sea lice have now reached 39% of the returning wild salmon.

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PRESS RELEASE

9 DECEMBER 2012

MEGA FISH FARM CONTRARY TO MORATORIUM IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

An environmental lobby group has written to the European Commission and to Irish Ministers claiming that the proposed Galway Bay mega fish farm is contrary to an agreement for a moratorium in salmon farm development reached under the National Development Plan 2007 – 2013 [NDP].

The group has documented the agreement for the moratorium which took place after objections from the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards and supported by the Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) about the negative impact that sea lice emanating from salmon farms are having on migratory wild salmonids.’

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The Irish Wildlife Trust [IWT] and Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] have welcomed the Government’s announcement that it is ‘recasting’ the focus of its assessment of Food Harvest 2020.

Food Harvest 2020 proposes an increase in the primary output in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector of 33% with an increase in exports of 42% and in milk production of 50%. The aquaculture sector is to expand by 300%.

In a statement, the groups said that ‘The Minister for Agriculture had told the Dail that Food Harvest 2020 was an ‘industry led initiative’ and so not a Government Plan which would require a strategic environmental assessment [SEA] under the SEA Directive. He made no reference to the Habitats Directive, which requires a separate ‘Appropriate Assessment’ [AA] to ensure sites designated for nature protection are not damaged.’

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Conclusions ‘not supported by any scientific investigation’

A submission by the Government agency Inland Fisheries Ireland will slam the proposed Galway Bay Fish Farm. The application for the  15,000 ton salmon farm – which would be the biggest in Europe – is being made by the semi–state agency who will then franchise the licensce to the highest bidder.

The ‘Submission by Inland Fisheries Ireland on the Environmental Impact Statement for a Deep Sea Fish Farm Development in Galway’ is available from the IFI website. It is highly critical of the Environmental Impact Statement [EIS].

The submission alleges that the EIS contains many statements ‘not supported’ by research and that some relevant research is noticeably absent  – such as data gathered on wild salmon at the proposed site by the Celtic Voyager.

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Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) Responds to Inaccurate Press Release Issued by Friends of the Irish Environment Regarding Galway Bay Fish Farm License Application

Yesterday, 29th October 2012, the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) released a statement with the headline “BIM SUPPRESSING CRITICAL REPORT ON GALWAY BAY FISH FARM”.

BIM categorically denies that it has suppressed any reports regarding its application for an organic certified salmon farming license in Galway Bay which aims to create 500 jobs.

In their release; Mr. Tony Lowes of the FIE, makes reference to a report from Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) concerning our application.  BIM did not receive any submission from IFI during the statutory consultation period for the salmon farm license application.  BIM cannot reasonably be expected to respond to submissions which it has not received. Friends of the Irish Environment did not consult with BIM prior to issuing their release and BIM calls on them to immediately withdraw their spurious allegation and to apologise for the slur on BIM’s reputation.

BIM is committed to an open and transparent consultation at both statutory level and with members of the public concerning this important job creating project.  The statutory agencies, including IFI, had 8 weeks within which to make submissions directly to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) regarding BIM’s license application.  DAFM forwarded all submissions received within the required timeframe to BIM.  These submissions, together with BIM’s response to them, were placed on BIM’s website for public viewing.  BIM did not receive any submission authored by IFI.

The public consultation period for the project is now underway, and it closes at 12 midnight on the 12th December 2012.  Any member of the public, or indeed agency, wishing to make submissions, should do so in accordance with the instructions set out in the public advertisements or as displayed on BIM’s website www.bim.ie .

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Environmental group questions proposed clean up at Haulbowline Island, County Cork.

At the public meeting last week to begin the process of a licence application for the remediation of the waste on the East Tip of the Island, [1] Tony Lowes, a Director of Friends of the Irish Environment, challenged Project Director Peter Young over the extent of the cleanup. The proposal is limited to the 9 hectare waste dump on the island.

mR. Lowes cited a Report co authored by Peter Young in 2002 [2] which identified the extent of the contamination on the island. ‘This included not just the 9 hectare East Tip which is being addressed but the 12 hectare site of the steel plant itself’, Mr. Lowes told the meeting in Cobh, County Cork.

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CALL FOR APPEALS BOARD TRANSPARENCY

An environmental group has called on Simon Coveney, the marine minister, to provide information of the Aquaculture Licensing Appeals Board’s activities on their website.

In a letter to the Minister, the group claims that ‘Modern EU legislation requires ‘active and systematic dissemination’ of environmental information held by public bodies, in ‘particular by means of computer telecommunication and/or electronic technology’ [Access to Information on the Environment, Article 7].

It was announced last week that an appeal under sections 40 and 41 of the Fisheries Act by Friends of the Irish Environment, along with local residents, fishermen and marine associations, had successfully overturned the Minister’s December 2011 decision to grant permission to a 2005 Dunmanus Bay Mussels development application.

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