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 - September 13 ,2001

SAVE THE SWILLY MEETS MINISTER OF STATE BYRNE

The Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Hugh Byrne, has undertaken to investigate poorly maintained shellfish farms in Lough Swilly. In a meeting with Mr Byrne in Letterkenny on Friday, a delegation from Save The Swilly reminded the Minister of promises he had made to them in a meeting in January to revoke licences where the sites were poorly maintained or abandoned. Save The Swilly, the umbrella organisation representing more than 30 groups and many individuals around Lough Swilly concerned about the expansion of aquaculture, requested the meeting in an attempt to clarify agreements reached during STS's initial meeting with Dept of the Marine officials in Dublin, on 16th January this year.

Responding to Save The Swilly's concerns about marine safety issues in Lough Swilly, Mr Byrne said the Dept of the Marine did not itself oversee the proper conduct of licensees. He said the fish farmers were self-regulating. However, Section 68 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997 gives the Minister for the Marine power to revoke a licence if he "is satisfied that the aquaculture operation to which the licence relates is not properly maintained". Save The Swilly believes at least two sites in Lough Swilly have not been properly maintained. "If the aquaculture industry is self-regulating, who determines whether a site is poorly maintained?" a Save The Swilly spokesperson asked.

The meeting between Save The Swilly and Mr Byrne was attended by representatives from the Dept of the Marine, BIM and CLAMS. The atmosphere was described by one attendee as 'acrimonious'. Save The Swilly continues to press for an independent baseline study and an independent environmental impact assessment (EIA) of Lough Swilly before any further aquaculture licences are awarded.

However, a BIM representative at the meeting dismissed the idea of an EIA for Lough Swilly as an impossibility due to the size and range of activities. Save The Swilly rejects the notion that the people of Lough Swilly should be denied full and accurate information on anything and everything that is likely to affect the quality of the lough. "If an EIA is too difficult for the Dept of the Marine to contemplate, they have no business granting new licences in the lough," a Save The Swilly spokesperson said. Save The Swilly has already announced its intention of commissioning its own independent EIA, and a fund-raising drive to finance the project has been launched.

In dismissing Save The Swilly's request for a subsidy of 40% of the cost of its proposed EIA - equivalent to the 40% subsidy the Dept offers to salmon-farming applicants - Mr Byrne said the government would not pay for a study "opposed to us". According to Save The Swilly, that response places in no doubt the Dept of the Marine's lack of objectivity. "An EIA on the terms we seek will not be opposed to anything that is good for Lough Swilly," the STS spokesperson added. "We intend to assess the current state of the lough, and to ask everyone around Lough Swilly to participate in decisions on where we should be headed. The current government's policy is high-handed and biased, placing aquaculture at the centre of development in the form of its Coordinated Local Aquaculture Management Systems (CLAMS), which is an aquaculture blueprint disguised as a consultation document."

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