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 - February 03 ,2003

BLUE FLAG BEACH THREATENED BY 80-ACRE FISH FARM

The decision to grant yet another salmon-farming licence in Lough Swilly, this time in Ballymastocker Bay near Portsalon, is short-sighted and potentially tragic for one of only two Blue Flag beaches in the area. Save The Swilly is urging anyone concerned about this development to appeal to the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board before the end of February. (Appeals forms are available at www.alab.ie)

Save The Swilly is also calling on the Donegal County Council to use its influence to delay all aquaculture licensing while considering proposals put forward for an overall management plan for the lough. The outline of such a plan is contained in the Scoping Study for an ICZM (Integrated Coastal Zone Management) Strategy for Lough Swilly, prepared by the University of Ulster's Coastal Research division. The study has been passed to members of Donegal County Council as well as to the Dept of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources.

A public notice in the Derry People and Donegal News last week states that the area to be licensed is Dooanmore, adjacent to Ballymastocker Bay, site of Portsalon's Blue Flag beach. Acreage licensed is 80 acres - almost double the area the company gave in its documentation for public consultation. With no restrictions in number, there could be as many as 24 cages placed in the area north of Portsalon Pier. The site lies in the sailing approach to the bay and will present a significant obstacle to the visiting yachts that have been encouraged to use the new moorings at Portsalon. It also poses a threat to wild salmon and sea trout runs into the Crana, Lennon, Swilly and Mill rivers, Research published by Bord Iascaigh Mhara acknowledges that salmon farming is already a significant contributor to pollution in Lough Swilly. Those figures were based on production of 1,000 tons of salmon a year. The company concerned has been given the right to increase production by 50%, to 1,500 tons a year.

The decision to add this licence – now the fourth in Lough Swilly – comes at a time when serious consideration is being given to Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) by the Irish Government. "It is inappropriate and provocative to issue another salmon-farm licence now, when the Dept of the Marine is well aware that an ICZM process is under way. In a letter to Save The Swilly a week ago, a Dept of the Marine official accepted the ICZM Scoping Study and said it would be considered in the context of the national strategy on ICZM. This decision shows that the Department was being less than sincere in its claims to be developing an ICZM strategy," said Tony Morrison, chairman of Save The Swilly.

A question must now arise as to the Donegal County Council’s attitude to Blue Flag beaches. A report to the Council in 1999 offered the prospect of a second Blue Flag beach for Portsalon. "If efforts are made to improve beach facilities at Portsalon, a second Blue Flag application may be possible," said the preliminary report on the LIFE Project: Implementing Alternative Strategies in Irish Beach and Dune Management.

Two other statements from Donegal County Council documents in recent years:

• "The Council will oppose [aquaculture] proposals on sites on or adjacent to designated Blue Flag Beaches and where such development would significantly interfere with recreational use of popular beach areas."
• "It is an objective of the draft County Development Plan 1998 to prepare Beach Management and Development Plans for all Blue Flag Beaches and potential Blue Flag Beaches. It is envisaged that these beaches will become centres for a wide range of beach and coastal leisure activities . . .It is therefore recommended that exclusion zones be designated within an agreed radius of Blue Flag beaches."

"Is Portsalon beach and bay, unquestionably one of Donegal’s most spectacular, to be colonised by the industry which gave us Mulroy Bay?" a spokesman for Save The Swilly queried.

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