| LOUGH REE WATER |
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BALCONYTV.COM 9/05/2007
PRESENTED BY TOM MILLETT
The environmental, ecological, and financial
impact of the proposed abstraction of water
from Lough Ree by Dublin City Council could
be disastrous says a new report commissioned
by the Lough Ree Task Force.
The report was created by Dr Paul Johnston,
Department of Civil, Structural, and
Environmental Engineering, Trinity College,
Dublin, and Jack O'Sullivan of Environmental
Management Services. Several problems with
the proposed project are highlighted in the
report. One of the major issues appears to be
the possibly irreversible environmental and
ecological impact that the proposed
abstraction would have on the surrounding
areas. "Plants, vegetation, and ecology need
certain conditions to survive. The impact
that the water abstraction would have on this
needs to be evaluated using careful modelling
and evaluation." said Dr Johnston.
The report points out that certain areas in
the Shannon are under conservation. "The
Shannon catchment, from which Dublin City
Council is proposing to take large quantities
of water, contains a significant number of
vulnerable and important Natural Heritage
Areas (NHAs), Special Areas of Conservation
(SACs), and Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
for wildlife. Lough Ree itself is designated
a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and is
important at both European and national
levels," says the report. Dr Johnston
believes DCC have failed to properly evaluate
the environmental impact on Lough Ree and the
surrounding waterways. "The environmental
impact on the area should determine whether
this option is the best. The alternatives
have not been considered significantly," said
Dr Johnston.
He also believes that only when a full
evaluation of the environmental impact is
given for each option should a choice be
made. "You need to consider the navigation
rights, how the power stations will be
affected, flooding on the river, and farm
land, etc. You should also consider the
ecological effects on the ground water," he
added.
PJ Walsh of the Lough Ree Task Force feels
that the whole plan to extract water from
Lough Ree to supply Dublin City with water is
ludicrous. There is major concern from local
businesses who use the Shannon that the water
extraction will lower the level of water in
the Shannon as well as on Lough Ree, Lough
Dergh, and the River Inny. "I have talked to
people who are in the cruiser business.
During the summer there are areas of the
Shannon a meter deep. If the water levels
drop even further they will be out of
business," said Mr Walsh. He understands that
the people of Dublin need water, however
there is no doubt in his mind that the
abstraction will be detrimental.
One concern which Mr Walsh feels needs to be
addressed is the lack of risk assessment on
the project. The report claims that; "The
reliance of the Dublin water supply on a
single large-scale source would create a
dependence on that source, so that in the
inevitable event of widespread adverse
effects becoming apparent in the Shannon
catchment area, there is no provision for a
shutdown of the scheme. And the feasibility
study lacks a risk assessment of the
viability of the overall scheme." If it is
found that the abstraction of water from
Lough Ree is causing serious problems it will
be very difficult, if not impossible, to stop
the project.
Two other options were given to Dublin City
Council; they were the abstraction of water
from either the River Barrow or Slaney, or
from both rivers at times when flow volumes
would permit the increased abstraction. The
other option was the abstraction of sea water
from Dublin Bay through an undersea pipeline.
However both these options have been turned
down. The Lough Ree option appears to have
been decided because it is technically
feasible and the most cost-effective.
- ATHLONE ADVERTISER, MARIA DALY 4/05/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lough_Ree
http://www.athloneadvertiser.ie/index.php?aid
=4470
Tune in again tomorrow!!!
Tags : balconytv shannon water lough ree dublin ireland |
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Affichage : 1959
Durée : 135 s |
| The Wolfe Tones ~ Lough Sheelin Eviction |
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http://www.tarawatch.org:80/
(Help save TARA)
http://www.wolfetonesofficialsite.com/
Sung By: Wolfe Tones
Mass evictions or "clearances" will forever
be associated with the Irish Famine. "It has
been estimated that, excluding peaceable
surrenders, over a quarter of a million
people were evicted between 1849 and 1854.
The total number of people who had to leave
their holdings in the period is likely to be
around half a million and 200,000 small
holdings were obliterated"
Under a law imposed in 1847, called the
"Gregory Clause", no tenant holding more than
a quarter acre of land was eligible for
public assistance. To become eligible, the
tenant had to surrender his holding to his
landlord. Some tenants sent their children to
the workhouse as orphans so they could keep
their land and still have their children fed.
Other tenants surrendered their land, but
tried to remain living in the house; however,
landlords would not tolerate it. "In many
thousands of cases estate-clearing landlords
and agents used physical force or
heavy-handed pressure to bring about the
destruction of cabins which they sought."
Many others who sought entrance to the
workhouses were required to return to their
homes and uproot or level them. Others had
their houses burned while they were away in
the workhouse.
"When tenants were formally evicted, it was
usually the practice of the landlord's
bailiffs - his specially hired 'crowbar
brigade' - to level or burn the affected
dwellings there and then, as soon as the
tenants effects had been removed, in the
presence of a large party of soldiers or
police who were likely to quell any thought
of serious resistance."
"These helpless creatures are not only
unhoused, but often driven off the land, no
one remaining on the lands being allowed to
lodge or harbor them. Or they, perhaps,
linger about the spot, and frame some
temporary shelter out of materials of their
old homes against a broken wall, or behind a
ditch or fence, or in a bog-hole, places
unfit for human habitations .... disease,
together with the privations of other kinds
which they endure, before long carry them
off.
As soon as one horde of houseless and all but
naked paupers are dead, or provided for in
the workhouse, another wholesale eviction
doubles the number, who in their turn pass
through the same ordeal of wandering from
house to house, or burrowing in bogs or
behind ditches, till broken down by privation
and exposure to the elements, they seek the
workhouse, or die by the roadside."
"There were hoards of poor on the roads every
day. The Catholics who could gave some little
they had to these, a saucer of oatmeal, a
handful of potatoes, a drink of milk or a
little bottle of sweet-milk to carry away
with them. It was not unusual to see a woman
with two, three or four children half-naked,
come in begging for alms, and often several
of these groups in one day, men too. If the
men got work they worked for little or
nothing and when they were no longer needed
they took to the road again. These wandering
groups had no homes and no shelter for the
night. They slept in the barns of those that
had barns on an armful of straw with a sack
or sack or some such thing to cover them."
Tags : wolfe tones ireland irish ballad dublin lough sheelin famine history |
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Affichage : 11715
Durée : 334 s |
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