𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚

Pro Surfer (Web)

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@CorkHurlingPod 2nd teams are playing div 1 which is a good idea. We need open development sessions at U14 & 15 like they did in football which worked well. If lads are given homework also they are progressing at different ages

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@CorkHurlingPod I watch a lot of U16 games, cork gaa need to get out and have a look at players still a lot of coaches sons being nominated. Some clubs like ballincollig and sarsfields midleton have boys on their 2nd teams that would be playing on any other clubs first. Some of their 3nd teams

[Mary Regan @MaryERegan]

Left-wing parties distance themselves from Catherine Connolly’s comments on Hamas https://t.co/7tYeQrnR2s

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@afneil The IMF next for Brexity Britain

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@StevieGrainger Unfortunately every wally knows how to post blackshirt rubbish these days, he sounds like a real headmelt.

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@Daily_MailUS Maxwell is a convicted child sex trafficker.

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@catherinegalway Catherine will be the most divisive president - putin and assads pal https://t.co/4lGbU1UpHV

[Putin is the Virus! 🇮🇪 🇪🇺🇺🇦 @Ordinar23421152]

.."The importance of listening"..🤔
And yet, on the evening Ukrainians gathered outside the Dail to protest the invasion of their country, you chose to lecture them on the "dangers" and "evils" of NATO /US...rather than empathising with and listening to their fears and concerns🤦

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@Sineadmcgar @PMc276 @vonderleyen Sinead face it you are condoning her behaviour and beliefs by supporting her

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@DaveLeGaeilge @catherinegalway Thank you Dave, the last thing we need is a putinist president

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@IrishTimes A putinist and assad supporter she hasn't a hope

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@SeanKellyMEP @FineGael Good Luck Sean you are an excellent candidate 👍

[CS Blenner 🇺🇦🇵🇸🇱🇧🇬🇱🇹🇼 @CSBlenner]

Imagine visiting Gaza and seeing the destruction, misery and death Israel has caused, and coming back and saying we should lift sanctions on Israel.

That’s what @catherinegalway did after visiting the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, which was levelled by Assad.

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@Sineadmcgar She is either naive in the extreme or an odious twerp - who in their right mind would support putin and assad (the killer of Palestinians). Would you not raise your standards for a choice of president?

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@RepLuna Russian Disinformation- shame on you

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@danobrien20 It worries me that the divergence between extreme left and right is getting very small- all putinists, anti eu etc. Connolly is the quintessential Tankie - loves Putin hates the EU

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@MaryERegan A putinist and assadist she is dangerous

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@Garbhan_D @MauraMunster @AnPostRS It's not done accidentally they know who they are inconveniencing

[Michael Deibert @michaelcdeibert]

Ireland @SocDems using "defends democracy, rule of law & rights" to describe someone who (along w/Baathist/Putinist filth Clare Daly & Mick Wallace) went on a govt-sponsored propaganda tour of Assad's Syria, prancing around on the ruins of Aleppo & Yarmouk https://t.co/sn1rgVR76f

[𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚 @davelike_]

@SocDems Connolly is a.shocking candidate - a putinist and Baathist supporter. ASSAD murdered thousands f Palestinians. Soc Dems lost my vote

[Ecofact @EcofactEcology]

Why are we building new weirs in our Natura 2000 rivers?

This weir was built in 2017. It was constructed by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) on the River Lackagh, Co. Donegal, to count salmon. It is located within the Cloghernagore Bog and Glenveagh National Park Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

This SAC is designated for Atlantic Salmon, Freshwater Pearl Mussel, and Otter, yet no species-specific surveys for these species were carried out as part of the planning application. The Natura Impact Statement (NIS) submitted was notably lacking in detail, with generic and unworkable mitigation.

There are records of Freshwater Pearl Mussels from this catchment yet the possible presence of this species downstream of this site was dismissed in the NIS as there were no previous records from the Lackagh River. It was not considered that this was because no previous surveys were ever done. Similarly Otters are almost certainly present, would be affected by a weir like this when foraging and commuting, yet again no formal surveys were completed. No ecological assessment was completed covering species that were not designated within the SAC.

The NIS stated that “If any lamprey species, White-clawed Crayfish or Freshwater Pearl Mussel are detected during works, work should cease immediately and the National Parks and Wildlife Service should be contacted for further direction”. This was completely inadequate when no baseline surveys had been completed.

A condition of planning was that IFI must approve all method statements for construction works. But IFI was the applicant, meaning there was no independent oversight of construction activities.

When this weir was installed, no eel passes were provided, and the planning application did not even mention eels. I made a complaint to IFI, highlighting that eels are a critically endangered species and that this weir would block their migration. I received no response. However, when I visited the site last week, I noted that elver passes had recently been installed.

But this is not a solution. This concrete fish migration barrier should never have been constructed in a Natura 2000 river. Elver passes are generally inefficient and quickly fall into disrepair. This has already happened at the few other sites in Ireland where elver passes were installed.

This weir was funded under the “Salmon Conservation Fund.” However, counting salmon to set angling catch quotas has nothing to do with the conservation objectives of the SAC. The river was closed to angling because it was not meeting its conservation limit. The true purpose of the weir and fish counter was to gather data to support reopening the fishery and to resume exploitation of an endangered salmon population.

However, since this weir was installed salmon runs, especially the early-running spring salmon for which this fishery was famous, have not improved. In fact, the runs have collapsed with <5% of the conservation limit now being reached.

There is an inherent conflict between installing weirs to count salmon and maintaining passage for non-salmonid species. Eels have great difficulty passing barriers like this. A weir like this would completely block lamprey migration. In addition, most of this fish counting weirs do not produce accurate salmon counts.

It is also likely that the weir affects salmon passage itself, particularly for early-running spring salmon trying to reach Glen Lough.

The River Lackagh was historically the location where the first salmon of the year was often captured - sometimes on New Year’s Day. Spring salmon ran into Glen Lough from early January onwards. However, the ability of salmon to pass weirs is significantly influenced by water temperature. In early spring, low temperatures limit the physical ability of salmon to leap or ascend obstacles. Salmon cannot generally pass weirs easily until water temperatures reach 8–10°C, which is rarely achieved early in the year on this river. The likely impact of this weir on fish passage was not even considered in the NIS.

There have been other damaging angling development projects in this catchment, carried out under the “National Strategy for Angling Development.” These include access roads, slipways, mooring pontoons, and other infrastructure for fishing access. While these developments may support tourism, they are not conservation actions. Instead, they contribute to disturbance of wildlife, increase biosecurity risks, and result in habitat loss within a Natura 2000 site.

IFI is an angling development and management agency - and there is a place for that. But who is actually looking after our Natura 2000 rivers and protecting them from angling development pressures? Because there is a lot more to our rivers than just “fisheries”.