River that gives Tipperary its name is in ‘deplorable’ state, councillor says
The River Ara, which gives Tipperary its name, has become heavily overgrown and is in a “deplorable” state, according to a local councillor.
The condition of the River Ara, which runs through Tipperary town, has seen vegetation take over, said councillor John O’Heney.
At the September meeting of the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel Municipal District, Cllr O’Heney said that if the county was to fall into the same condition as the river, it would be in trouble.
“Tiobráid Árann — the well of Ara — the county’s name, there is a huge historical significance between the river and the county,” Cllr O’Heney explained.
“If the county is to go the way of the river, we’re in trouble. I’ve raised this countless times, the state of the river here is deplorable.
“When I was growing up 20 years ago, there was fishing, there was people coming to sit by the river, I went to school in The Abbey, I walked over the bridge every morning, you’d look left and right and the river was pristine, with clear water,” Cllr O’Heney explained.
The current condition of the river is “unacceptable,” he added, saying that there is massive confusion among councillors and the general public about who is responsible for maintaining rivers.
Cllr O’Heney called for the vegetation in the River Ara to be cut back. © Katie O’Donovan.
The level of overgrowth in the river “reflects badly” on whoever is responsible for it, Cllr O’Heney said, and is a source of frustration for councillors in the town.
Fianna Fáil councillor Micheál Anglim said that issues with rivers in particular shows how much red tape is out there.
“We’re strangling ourselves with red tape, in my own village of Ardfinnan, there’s a weir and there’s a massive break in the weir, and they’re saying ‘it has to be left like that, so the salmon can make their way up’.
“Fifty metres up further, there’s a salmon pass since Adam was a boy, and they made their way up there always. It’s exceptionally frustrating, but if there’s anything the River Basin Management Service can do to lessen the red tape that we’re drowning in when it comes to the rivers,” Cllr Anglim said.
“The way we’re going at the moment, we’re going nowhere,” he added.
In response, Ruth Hennessy from the River Basin Management Service said that there is no easy answer to dealing with issues in the county’s rivers.
“With the summer that we had, it has really exacerbated some of the challenges we’ve had with our rivers,” Ms Hennessy said.
She explained that there are a number of root causes of vegetation growth in rivers, and said that they had been trying to tackle the causes, rather than the vegetation itself.
“We’ve been trying to address those causes of that nutrient pollution, that run-off from land, from pipes and discharges, so in the Ara, we’ve looked, and we’ve referred many issues to agricultural advisers.
“They are working with farmers in the catchment to reduce nutrient run-off, so that is primarily the way we’re trying to address this issue,” she said.
Ms Hennessy said responsibility for rivers does not rest with one body, with the River Basin Management Service, local authorities, Inland Fisheries and other agencies all having roles.