Press Releases

Archived Press Releases:

 May 12 ,2007
ELECTION 2007: How clean is Donegal’s water, and other pertinent political questions…?

 September 25 ,2006
OYSTER CRISIS EXPOSES "SHAMBLES" IN MANAGEMENT OF SWILLY

 July 11 ,2005
ATTEMPT TO DOUBLE SALMON-FARMING OUTPUT IN LOUGH SWILLY

 August 23 ,2004
WHICH PART OF "NO" DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND?

 June 02 ,2004
COULTER CALLS FOR POLITICAL CHANGE IN DONEGAL

 December 15 ,2003
PORTSALON SALMON-FARMING LICENCE REFUSED BY ALAB

 November 05 ,2003
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY FEDERATION OF IRISH SALMON AND SEA TROUT ANGLERS, FRIENDS OF CLEW BAY AND SAVE THE SWILLY

 September 24 ,2003
PRIME TIME EXPOSES AQUACULTURE'S SHORTCOMINGS

 July 24 ,2003
SAVE THE SWILLY CALLS FOR FARMED SALMON MORTALITY MONITOR

 July 21 ,2003
ANOTHER DISASTER IN INVER BAY - INQUIRY ESSENTIAL

 July 17 ,2003
"RURAL DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY"

 June 21 ,2003
ANOTHER DISASTER IN INVER BAY - INQUIRY ESSENTIAL

 February 08 ,2003
SAVE THE SWILLY MEETS INISHOWEN POLITICIANS

 February 03 ,2003
BLUE FLAG BEACH THREATENED BY 80-ACRE FISH FARM

 January 29 ,2003
SAVE THE SWILLY 10,000-SIGNATURE PETITION ACCEPTED BY EUROPE

 January 28 ,2003
NEW ALLIANCE FORMED IN SWILLY

 December 16 ,2002
"STOP RIPPING UP THE SWILLY" INDIGENOUS PEOPLE DEMAND

 December 13 ,2002
LOUGH SWILLY'S INDIGENOUS FISHERMEN SPEAK OUT

 October 01 ,2002
Press Releases Save The Swilly 1 October 2002 PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT

 September 25 ,2002
SAVE THE SWILLY WELCOMES EU STRATEGY ON COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT

 August 12 ,2002
'Lough Swilly ICZM Report'

 August 02 ,2002
QUESTIONS OVER DECOMPOSING SALMON IN INVER BAY

 June 03 ,2002
NO ROOM FOR TRADITION IN LOUGH SWILLY

 May 03 ,2002
Save The Swilly opts for "Swilly First"

 May 03 ,2002
Save The Swilly/Green Party candidate withdraws

 May 01 ,2002
Save The Swilly/Green Party candidate to contest Donegal North-East

 April 18 ,2002
COULTER TO BE "AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE" FOR SAVE THE SWILLY

 March 25 ,2002
Save The Swilly presents 10,000-signature petition to EU

 March 12 ,2002
Study of Lough Swilly launched

 November 30 ,2001
STS letter to Hugh Byrne, Minister for State for the Department of the Marine

 November 27 ,2001
ICZM AND OSPAR - NOT CLAMS - FOR SWILLY

 October 17 ,2001
SALMON FARM WANTS STILL MORE LICENCES INSHORE

 September 17 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY MEETS LABOUR PARTY

 September 13 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY MEETS MINISTER OF STATE BYRNE

 September 01 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY BEGINS FUNDRAISING DRIVE

 August 28 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY WELCOMES I.F.A. INITIATIVE

 May 15 ,2001
EXPANSION OF SALMON FARMING TRAGIC FOR SWILLY

 April 09 ,2001
MUSSEL BARRELS ADRIFT IN LOUGH SWILLY

 March 22 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY PRESENTS PETITION

 March 13 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY QUESTIONS MINISTER BYRNE

 March 11 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY REAFFIRMS CALL FOR MORATORIUM

 February 20 ,2001
LAUNCH OF SAVE THE SWILLY WEBSITE

 January 24 ,2001
An open letter to the people on the shores of Lough Swilly:

 January 16 ,2001
Delegation meets Minister Hugh Byrne

 January 09 ,2001
Save The Swilly (from looking like Mulroy Bay)

SAVE THE SWILLY - August 28 ,2001

SAVE THE SWILLY WELCOMES I.F.A. INITIATIVE

Save The Swilly has welcomed the Irish Farmers' Association's Fish Farming Section initiative to lobby the government to meet its obligations with respect to water quality in Lough Swilly.

Save The Swilly has individual members who have many concerns regarding the area around Lough Swilly, among them human sewage and slurry run-off from farming, but the specific mandate for STS overall is to lobby for a moratorium on aquaculture expansion until an independent baseline study and an independent environmental impact assessment of Lough Swilly have been completed.

Minister Frank Fahey has refused to accede to STS requests for such a study, supported by a 9,500-signature petition. We reiterate our call on Minister Fahey to agree to a genuinely independent assessment of Lough Swilly, so that all sources of pollution - human sewage, farm slurry, aquaculture, etc - are evaluated. We urge the IFA Fish Farming Section to support this call, as a comprehensive study as envisaged by Save The Swilly would cover all aspects of Lough Swilly, including productive uses and environmental threats.

Responding to challenges to aquaculture licensing policy, politicians and Department of the Marine officials have consistently referred to the Co-ordinated Local Aquaculture Management Systems (CLAMS) as the forum for discussion. Perhaps the IFA Fish Farming Section should use CLAMS to persuade local authorities to deal with the human sewage issue.

The suggestion that fish farmers are "the only group who actively makes their living from the bay" is inaccurate. The Dublin-based IFA Fish Farming Section may not be aware of this, but there are at least 100 commercial fishermen operating in Lough Swilly. These include people who have fished the Swilly for generations, as well as natural oyster fishermen dredging one of only nine natural flat oyster beds in Ireland.

Save The Swilly's only objective is the preservation of Lough Swilly for future generations. As an umbrella organisation comprising 35 member groups, we support all development that takes as its starting point and its overriding concern the marine environment and the interests of all legitimate users of the lough. Only when we know where we are can we agree on where we should be going.

We believe the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources is making decisions on the long-term future of the lough without full consultation on equal terms with commercial fishermen, sailors, anglers, divers, hoteliers and residents. Many of these individuals and groups are concerned about various environmental issues affecting the lough, and would welcome any initiative to enhance water quality in Lough Swilly.

[back to top]