Development along River Blackwater at risk from endangered pearl mussel

The River Blackwater. Picture Dan Linehan

Future development along the Blackwater River in Co Cork is set to be seriously impacted after it emerged the number of a critically-endangered species has been under-estimated, according to a minister who says the government isn't going to challenge an EU protection order on them.

Malcolm Noonan, Minister for State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, said that previous research into the Freshwater Pearl Mussel population for the river was "a significant under-estimate.”