More than 500 trout and other fish found dead in 'important spawning river' in Kildare

The reported fish kill in the River Rye in Leixlip, Co Kildare. It is said that it will "take years" to recover in such a sensitive spawning and nursery site for salmon and trout. Picture: Inland Fisheries Ireland

Authorities have launched an investigation after more than 500 fish were killed along a 2km stretch of a Kildare river.

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) said it could not comment on an active investigation into the incident on the River Rye Water in Leixlip, but did describe it as a "serious fish kill".

"Officers from the Eastern River Basin District in Dublin were alerted to the incident on the evening of Wednesday, June 8. Water and fish samples were taken from the scene and removed for scientific analysis at an independent laboratory. Inland Fisheries Ireland estimates that there could be in excess of 500 mortalities of Brown trout plus other fish species in the impacted 2km (approximately) of river," it said.

Social Democrats joint leader Catherine Murphy said that she had been informed that it was a "sewage spill" and that the local authority in Kildare and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had examined the "awful" scene.

IFI said that the River Rye Water is "an important spawning river for Brown trout and a key spawning channel for a highly sensitive population of Atlantic salmon within the River Liffey catchment area".

Local observer Dylan O'Flynn, who alerted a range of organisations and politicians on social media to the incident, said that it will "take years" to recover in such a sensitive spawning and nursery site for salmon and trout.

A member of the Leixlip and District Angling Association found a lot of dead fish in the River Rye in Leixlip, Co Kildare. Picture: Inland Fisheries Ireland

Green Party councillor Vanessa Liston said that Kildare County Council were on-site and "identified the polluting substance which has now stopped flowing into the river", while Social Democrat councillor Nuala Killeen said that she has asked for ongoing testing and monitoring.

Michael O’Callaghan of the Leixlip and District Angling Association told RTÉ News at One that locals had noticed a foul smell coming from the river and raised the alarm.

“One of our members found a lot of dead fish downstream and confirmed the smell and discolouration in the river," he said, adding that 500 fish is "massive for the river".

"It is absolutely devastating for the local ecosystem. It is a wild stock of trout, so it will have to recover naturally if it ever does fully recover.  It is an ecological disaster." Earlier this year, a local company in West Cork was found in court to have caused a kill of around 2,000 fish in the River Ilen last summer.

Whiskey producer West Cork Distillers, which admitted inadvertently polluting but denied responsibility for the fish kill, was told to distribute €26,000 between all the region’s Tidy Towns, avoiding a conviction at Skibbereen District Court by doing so.