Assurances given by a state body over risks to wild salmon have not eased coastal communities’ fears over fish farms.

Up to 7,000 homes in the Beara Peninsula have been targeted by a voluntary group campaigning to prevent the expansion of Marine Harvest’s fish farms in Bantry Bay.

A Norwegian fish farming company is seeking to develop a closed container fish farm at buildings which were previously used for the processing of mussels in Bantry, West Cork.

Opposition is mounting in West Cork to plans by one of the world’s biggest fish farming operations to develop a €5.5m organic salmon farm in Bantry Bay.

Children were in the frontline last night as they joined their mums and dads, friends and neighbours in a protest against Government cuts that will eke into the heart and soul of rural ireland.