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 - October 17 ,2001

SALMON FARM WANTS STILL MORE LICENCES INSHORE

The company engaged in salmon-farming operations in Lough Swilly is pursuing further licences in the lough, even though it has recently been awarded two additional licences and the full production quota it sought, a 50% increase in tonnage.

A consultant has been employed by the company to conduct a Visual Impact Assessment, although in discussions with several Save The Swilly member groups, the consultant acknowledged that she was only assessing which of the two additional sites - Doaghbeg or Dooanmore - would be more suitable. She is expressly not being asked to assess whether either site is suitable, and she is not concerned with anything other than the visual impact.

The consultant told Save The Swilly member groups that the company was "not interested" in the two additional Lough Swilly sites they were granted in May 2000, and asked the groups' representatives whether Doaghbeg or Dooanmore was preferable. She acknowledged that she had not arranged meetings with anyone in the Doaghbeg area, and had no plans to consult residents of Inishowen.

Save The Swilly has called once again on the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources to clarify its plans for Lough Swilly. The umbrella group established a year ago was refused its demand - backed by a petition signed by more than 9,000 - for an independent baseline study and environmental impact assessment for Lough Swilly. It is now preparing a scoping document prior to commissioning an independent baseline study on behalf of residents surrounding the lough. "It is wholly inappropriate that the Department should even contemplate granting further licences in Lough Swilly when a wide cross-section of the population around Lough Swilly are demanding that further research be carried out before any expansion of the aquaculture industry in the lough is allowed," a Save The Swilly spokesperson said. He also drew attention to EU objections to aquaculture licensing procedures in Lough Swilly which remain unanswered, several months past the final date for response.

The Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Mr Hugh Byrne, said in an interview in April this year that "any large-scale [fish-farming] developments would have to be sited further offshore." Save The Swilly has called on the Minister to honour this position, and insists that fish-farming developments be concentrated out of Lough Swilly, where the environmental damage can be minimised.

Scientists from the EU-LIFE Environment Programme, who produced the Rural Beach Management guide published by Donegal County Council, believe a second Blue Flag beach is possible for Portsalon, and An Taisce has indicated that it would be prepared to consider an application for a second Blue Flag Beach in Ballymastocker Bay.

"It is true that both Doaghbeg and Dooanmore should be rejected as salmon-farming sites for visual impact reasons. But far more serious threats are to the wild fish in the lough, as well as to the compromised livelihood of commercial fishermen, and the recreational use of adjoining beaches. These locations are far too close to the existing Portsalon Blue Flag beach," Save The Swilly said.

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