North Cork fish kill may spark legal proceedings over suspected chemical spill

Minister of State Neale Richmond said that Uisce Éireann was made aware of the incident at Freemount water treatment plant

It is feared at least 5,000 fish, including salmon, trout, and lamprey were killed along a 4km stretch of the Allow, in north Cork, an important tributary of the Blackwater.

Legal proceedings may flow from a suspected chemical spill that resulted in the deaths of thousands of fish in Cork earlier this month, after “warning lights were shining” about such an event happening, the Dáil has heard.

Speaking on Wednesday, Minister of State Neale Richmond described the event as an “ecological disaster”, given the number of vulnerable fish species in the affected waters at a “time of significantly biodiversity loss”.