FERMOY WEIR: Damage to weir cap and supporting structure

FERMOY WEIR: Damage to weir cap and supporting structure

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is monitoring the situation at Fermoy Weir where large sections of the weir cap and supporting structure have been damaged in recent days. The current water levels prevent a close examination to determine the extent of the damage and any potential impact on fish passage at the weir.

Cork County Council is the owner of the infrastructure and is the authority responsible for funding and carrying out works to it. IFI continues to provide advice on fish passage issues to Cork County Council to ensure compliance of infrastructure in their ownership with appropriate legislation, in particular the EU Habitats Directive. Representatives of Inland Fisheries Ireland and the DCCAE accompanied Minister of State Sean Kyne TD at a series of meetings in Fermoy on 16th October 2018 with local elected representatives and stakeholders, at which Cork County Council committed to seeking the necessary funding to bring the agreed bypass channel and associated repair works project to fruition. Minster of State Kyne agreed that a bid for central funding would be considered and gave his support for any bid.

IFI has engaged with the Coastal Management & Flood Projects Dept. in relation to the preparation of a Consultants Brief to design remediation works for the weir and the agreed fish bypass channel and look forward to meeting with the Local Authority representatives in due course to discuss this recent development.