THERE has been a dramatic decline in Ireland’s high quality river water over the last 21 years, from 600 clean rivers to less than 60, a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency reveals.

Former soldiers from Ireland and the North stood shoulder to shoulder today to honour servicemen killed in the First and Second World Wars.

Around 30% of Ireland’s 13,200km (8,202 miles) of rivers are polluted, a new report has revealed.