Kilkenny-Tipperary officials hold critical cross-border talks

For the third time in a month the Lingaun Valley was the focus of a Kilkenny-Tipperary cross-border meeting about improving the area.

Coming fast after representatives of all the communities throughout the valley met in Grangemockler Hall to promote Tourism and the combined County Council officers, engineers, elected representatives, tourism, rural development and leader officers and Lingaun Tourism volunteers met in the Civic offices in Carrick-on-Suir.

The meeting was to support the national initiative to help improve water quality in the Lingaun catchment Area and took place in Mealaghmore on Tuesday last. With a high powered task force of experts from Teagasc in both Kilkenny and Tipperary, Tirlán Co-Op, farming groups representatives and the Lawpro Catchment Assessment team it was held on a summers morning only suitable for meetings.

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The information and free advice session was to learn about the current water quality of the river with grant assistance for remedial solutions. As part of a series of meetings, it was specifically arranged for all farmers in the catchment area from its source on Slievenamon to entering the River Suir at the Three Bridges. With waste water, physical changes, agriculture and forestry being amongst the main challenges, the river is one of 190 rivers nationwide that are part of a Department of Agriculture and Marine National initiative.

With a sad history of the dumping of industrial and food waste in the porous flooded slate quarries being long resolved, the current water quality based on a baseline survey taken in 2007 has seen the river water quality deteriorate.

The new water improvement programme, commenced in 2020 with the Initial Public Engagement Via Zoom and continues with Public Engagement meetings. The aim is to keep all stakeholders informed and to seek a meitheal type solution of everyone working together as in community groups and sports clubs type of way to reverse the trend.