Fisheries plan legal action on mudslides

THE Shannon Regional Fisheries Board (SRFB) could take legal action against whoever was responsible for the Derrybrien peat landslide in Co Galway, it emerged last night.

The SRFB is extremely concerned that there have been three landslides in the south Galway area during the last 18 months.

“The board is continuing its investigations into the incident,” SRFB chief executive officer Eamon Cusack said.

“Should information become available identifying a responsible party, the board will consider issuing legal proceedings, including the recovery of costs associated with the damage caused to the fishery.”

Mr Cusack was speaking after the SRFB met to consider the preliminary report into the landslide.

The possible court action against those responsible for disturbing 70 acres of peat at Derrybrien last month, has been welcomed by local residents.

More than 100,000 fish including special protected species were affected by the landslide.

“The damage resulting from the events of recent weeks will take many years to recover, provided no further such events occur,” Mr Cusack said.

The SRFB will meet with Galway County Council and the ESB subsidiary company Hibernian Wind Power Ltd to review the actions taken to halt the slide.

“The affected tributary will remain heavily silted for some time to come and during heavy rain large volumes are still coming down the Owendalulleegh River,” Mr Cusack said.

Efforts are being made to prevent any further damage to the river at the centre of the landslide, Mr Cusack said.

“We view this incident as the most serious which has affected the region in recent years and will work to ensure that the fish and their environment are restored,” he said.

It also emerged yesterday that there was another landslide at a 9m windfarm development five miles outside Loughrea, Co Galway.

Some 15,000 cubic meters of peat was moved, about a month before the Derrybrien slide.

This was the third such incident in the Slieve Aughty area of Co Galway.

The Derrybrien Concerned Residents Association want the EU to examine the suitability of the area for windfarms, spokesperson Martin Collins said.

“We want the EU to look at what happened here and to review the national strategy of putting windfarms on mountains,” Mr Collins said.