07/11/2025
BREAKING NEWS.
FISSTA REFUSE TO ALLOW A REPEAT OF THIS UNBRIDLED DISCHARGING INTO OUR PRISTINE WATERS TO CONTINUE ANY LONGER. THE TIME FOR STATEMENTS AND TALKING SHOPS ON WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN – BUT NEVER DOES - IS OVER. WE HAVE IDENTIFIED AND APPROVED A LEGAL STRATEGY AND INSTRUCTED OUR LEGAL TEAM TO INITIATE ACTION IMMEDIATELY. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUPPORT OF SISTER FEDERATION NARA IN THIS ACTION AND WILL WELCOME AND APPRECIATE ALL WHO WISH TO SUPPORT US IN THIS FIGHT FOR PRISTINE FISH HABITAT AND IMPROVED WATER QUALITY.
PRESS RELEASE FROM FISSTA – 7th November 2025.
It is now over twelve weeks since the state’s biggest fish kill of over an estimated 46,000 fish occurred on the Munster Blackwater River. The details of sampling results were published by Minister Dooley and to date there is no credible response from our state fishery, environment or scientific bodies who have responsibility for investigation this disaster. Once again, only anglers as victims, are asking the questions and getting a closed door by IFI as our wildlife has been obliterated on that part of the river. As have our letter which we have written to the Ministers O’ Brien, Dooley and Heydon to act and repeat our call for the Chairman, the Deputy CEO and the entire board of Inland Fisheries Ireland to stand down immediately.
Some members have already resigned, but the actions of Chairman Tom Collins continues to damage the integrity of the process and the entire organisation. Since our first call in mid-August, we have learnt that the procedural rules that bound them to interview and appoint candidates to senior management were ignored. As a result, we do not accept the appointments and terminations of contracts of senior management that have been made since June. Any candidate sitting an interview for such posts as Head of Research or Deputy CEO must be interviewed and assessed by someone with more senior management and scientific expertise. It is obvious that the IFI Board are not fit for purpose and allowed themselves to be unduly influenced by the discredited Marine Institute, EPA and HR recruitment methods that disregards long established procedures of governorship that the Brady Report upheld.
The evidence given by state bodies at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on September 30th embarrassed our legislators and raised anger and disgust with all that watched on while Barry Fox (Unqualified as Deputy CEO) stated that he decided that all criminal investigations were now closed without any conclusion which ruled any future evidence being submitted. The Countrywide RTE Radio programmes on the following Saturdays later confirmed the serious breaches of trust and professionalism by the management of IFI and that is why we call on the line Minister Daire O’ Brien TD to enact a Section 18 now and disband the board.
We call once again for an urgent River-by-River analysis of our salmonid resources, just like the River Feale template compiled by Ger Hayes in 2022 is the kind of analysis that would greatly assist every club as a roadmap on their river is urgently needed now. The recent Ella Mc Sweeney article in the Irish Times rocked and embarrassed the EPA, IFI, MI DECC and DAFM who should have known this exact picture but seemed to have ignored each other in their day-to-day work. Thankfully, Ella Mc Sweeney’s joined up this thinking and articulated this far better than our federations and clubs who were never listened to, despite our complaints being logged constantly by the media. The political interference that is rife in fisheries must be declared, registered, investigated and eliminated to allow science to rule and identify the polluter. The lack of any determination by state to intervene and do their job is why we still have no adequate response to all fish kills to date and this ‘sweeping under the carpet’ has to be an embarrassment to Minister Dooley who is left speechless without any valid state body to defend the defenceless.
Since these fish kill disasters, FISSTA has consulted with many of their member clubs on our 145 salmonid rivers who share our disgust and anger with what has transpired. Prior to the Blackwater fish kill, there were fish kills on Loch Sheelin, Douglas, and now another repeat more recently in mid-September on the Abhainn Bhui in Donegal “IFI officers attended the site and detected no polluting discharges entering the Yellow River” the Director in Ballyshannon confirmed without sampling. FISSTA have had many successful campaigns down the years, such as our ‘End Driftnets’ which the late Orri Vigfusson RIP helped internationally through foreign embassies to pressurise the Irish Government. FISSTA organised successful national marches in Killarney (which we won in 2006) and on Galway Bay against the salmon farm application which BIM eventually withdrew in 2016.
Those proposing an ‘angler only’ solution to the dwindling stocks is only confusing the issues, much to the delight of the state bodies who consistently approve anti salmon habitat licenses. If the pollution discharges, sea lice, forestry, wind turbine construction and commercial salmon netting exploitation licenses our salmon stocks and water quality would greatly improve our habitat for our wild fish. Our victory in the High Court in July 2023 against Norwegian salmon farming giant MOWI in Bantry Bay still encourages us to explore our legal options to ensure a repeat of such fish kills never happen again. To this end, our legal team have identified a legal plan on how a successful case would result in a victory for water quality. The state must be penalised and forced to implement the legal framework that already exists there to avoid the perpetrators causing habitat or fish kills in the future.
FISSTA REFUSE TO ALLOW A REPEAT OF THIS UNBRIDLED DISCHARGING INTO OUR PRISTINE WATERS TO CONTINUE ANY LONGER. THE TIME FOR STATEMENTS AND TALKING SHOPS ON WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN – BUT NEVER DOES - IS OVER. WE HAVE IDENTIFIED AND APPROVED A LEGAL STRATEGY AND INSTRUCTED OUR LEGAL TEAM TO INITIATE ACTION IMMEDIATELY. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUPPORT OF SISTER FEDERATION NARA IN THIS ACTION AND WILL WELCOME AND APPRECIATE ALL WHO WISH TO SUPPORT US IN THIS FIGHT FOR PRISTINE FISH HABITAT AND IMPROVED WATER QUALITY. ENDS.
F.I.S.S.T.A . - HON. SECRETARY & PRO, NOEL CARR, TEELIN RD, CARRICK, CO. DONEGAL F94 X9Y3 TEXT: 00353 (0)87 2352001 or Phone 074 9730300 Email: fissta2017@gmail.com
HON. CHAIRMAN: PAUL LAWTON, 37 Connoly Gardens, Ballyphehane, CORK City
