Letters to the Editor: Let the light in over our rivers

'When will the ecological penny drop?'

Inniscarra Bridge near Ballincollig, Cork.'Our once proud, big southern rivers are now on their last legs, with a large proportion of their thousands of kilometres of feeder streams eutrophied drains, pouring nitrates and phosphates out onto the coasts.' Picture: Denis Minihane

Just how long is it going to take for the ecological penny to drop? Our once proud, big southern rivers are now on their last legs, with a large proportion of their thousands of kilometres of feeder streams eutrophied drains, pouring nitrates and phosphates out onto the coasts, along with vast amounts of washing up sea lettuce.

This did not start to go wrong with farmers five or 10 years ago, but literally 70 years ago, with the myxomatosis of the rabbit and the rural electrification. Before then, we had approximately 40m rabbits loose on the land, with hardly a tree able to grow. Those on the stream banks were relentlessly harvested for firing by the rural poor, who then suddenly had the electric cooker instead and the great tree growth began.